Ex Libris 
 C. K. OGDEN
 
 CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER.
 
 CLUB-LAND 
 OF THE TOILER 
 
 EXEMPLIFIED BY THE WORKMEN'S CLUB AND 
 INSTITUTE UNION 
 
 T. S. PEPPIN, B.A. 
 
 WITH A PREFACE BY 
 
 CANON BARNETT 
 
 LONDON 
 J. M. DENT & CO. 
 
 ALDINE HOUSE, 69 GREAT EASTERN STREET, B.C. 
 MDCCCXCV
 
 All Rights Reserved.
 
 NOTE. 
 
 My very cordial thanks are due to Mr B. T. Hall, 
 Secretary of the Workmen's Club and Institute Union, 
 and to Mr J. J. Dent, the late Secretary of the same, for 
 help and information which have been most valuable to 
 me in the preparation of this little work. 
 
 T. 8. PEPPIN. 
 
 1074128
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE Life and Leisure of London offers a problem as 
 difficult as that of the Life and Work which Charles 
 Booth is doing so much to solve How do people who 
 have no work to do spend the long hours of the day ? 
 How much time goes in lounging how much is killed ? 
 How do workmen spend the leisure they gain with 
 shorter hours of labour ? What do members of the build- 
 ing trades do when they knock off work at four or five 
 o'clock in the afternoon? What sorts of pleasure and 
 recreation are possible, what are those they actually 
 enjoy ? 
 
 The problem is obviously full of difficulty, but its solu- 
 tion would throw light on a path in which we are feeling 
 our way. If it were known how the rich who have no 
 employment spend their wealth, it would be easier to 
 decide whether the common good demands more or less 
 taxation of that wealth. Perhaps, too, the analysis of 
 the time spent on dressing, eating, lounging, or in 
 frivolities of reading, playing, and sight-seeing would 
 rouse some who are guilty to a more useful life in a 
 society which cries out with the hundred voices of suffer- 
 ing and sorrow for others' service. If, on the other hand, 
 it were known how the workmen use the leisure they 
 have gained the knowledge of the hours spent in sleep, 
 in public-houses, in unskilled games, in seeking for 
 excitement, would both hurry the movement for making 
 more leisure, and also make it clear that other means of 
 pleasure must be provided. Perhaps, too, the revelation
 
 viii PREFACE. 
 
 of the number of hours spent aimlessly and vainly in 
 athletics, in gambling, in swaggering show, would stir 
 some young workmen to more efforts at self-improve- 
 ment, and to a more generous use of their money and 
 time. The problem, however, has not yet been attempted, 
 and no one knows how the leisure of London is spent. 
 Mr Peppin in the following pages offers a small con- 
 tribution. He describes the workman's club in which 
 he tells us 34,000 men take their leisure. 
 
 Mr Peppin speaks with the authority of a man who 
 has himself lived for some years in the midst of the club- 
 land of which he speaks ; he knows the " feel " of a work- 
 ing class district, the depression of its monotonous streets, 
 the dull grey of its atmosphere. He, as their neighbour, 
 has learnt something of the thoughts which lurk behind 
 words, and are not easily caught, either by kindly visitors 
 or clever special correspondents. He, himself, has been 
 for some years both a member and almost a nightly 
 frequenter of these clubs, going in and out among the 
 members as a mate and a friend. 
 
 Readers may be warned that they must not judge 
 clubs as if they were missions, or in any way reforming 
 agencies. Clubs have been developed by workmen to 
 provide for themselves means of relaxation. As Mr 
 Peppin says, no one asks of a West End Club" Does it 
 promote sobriety 1 " " Does it raise the tone of its mem- 
 bers ? " A club in the east or in the west is simply the 
 outcome of the needs of the society around, and as such 
 affords an insight into the life of that society. 
 
 Workmen's clubs are very expressive of working-class 
 thought and feeling. They are not exclusively formed of 
 Unionists and Friendly Society men ; many of the mem- 
 bers are neither one nor the other. The clubs are thus 
 representative of that large body whicli will not fall into 
 line with either of these organisations. Working-class 
 thought is often sought among Unionists or friendly 
 societies. It is not discovered if account be not also taken
 
 of those outside their bodies. Unionists and friendly 
 society men may be the Jlite of the class, but a class is 
 not to be understood only by its elite. 
 
 A club with its entertainments, its lectures, its library, 
 its games, may thus be taken as illustrative of the sort 
 of pleasure which workmen demand and enjoy. A de- 
 scription of Club-land shows how a large class of the 
 community uses its leisure. 
 
 There are many questions which come into prominence 
 under even the small ray of light thrown by this book. 
 " Ought clubs to be registered under certain restrictions 
 as to accommodation and hours of opening 1 " 
 
 A requirement that the buildings should be substantial 
 and clean, that the bar and lecture-room or reading-room 
 should be separate, that a body of shareholders and not 
 a brewer be responsible for the capital, would be accept- 
 able to long and firmly established clubs, but might bear 
 hardly on those struggling into existence. And any rule 
 which bears hardly on natural development is ill advised. 
 Clubs are means of recreation, provided by the people 
 for the people. They will improve as tastes improve, 
 and it is in making the improvements that better tastes 
 will be established. 
 
 Another question which is raised is, " Ought not ele- 
 mentary education to have a higher aim 1 " 
 
 "If club lectures, entertainment, talk, opinion, repre- 
 sent the result of twenty-five years' working of the 
 Education Act, is not something more required ?" A very 
 limited enquiry shows that there is little organised 
 teaching of a higher sort attractive to man. The Uni- 
 versity Extension Society is so inadequately supported 
 that its lectures are rare. At the same time, it is equally 
 clear that there is little demand for the teaching which 
 would furnish the memory with facts of great deeds and 
 great men, and stimulate the imagination to shape a 
 future fit for the life of generous people. Boys leave 
 school as prisoners leave a prison. They are glad of
 
 release from restraint, of freedom from the drudgery. 
 School life is as a rule not made attractive, the natural 
 curiosity of the intellect has not been aroused, nor the 
 more generous emotions stirred. The aim, indeed, of the 
 school is to prepare the children for work, and there has 
 been little thought of preparing them for leisure. It is 
 no wonder, therefore, that the recreation they provide 
 for themselves in clubs is so poor, that the members are 
 condemned to such surroundings, and have so few sub- 
 jects of conversation. The question as to the need of 
 higher education may be, perhaps, satisfied, if attendance 
 at a night continuation school were enforced till the age 
 of sixteen. It might be required of employers using 
 those young people to get a certificate of such attend- 
 ance. 
 
 Other questions will occur to readers of this book as 
 to the need of temperance legislation, and the better pro- 
 vision of baths and libraries, but the impression left on 
 me is, I confess, one to encourage hope. 
 
 The existence of clubs is a sign of life, of the demand 
 of men for society and of their power to provide it for 
 themselves. The growth of some of the clubs and the 
 way in which they have raised buildings and started 
 libraries is full of promise of what others may do. The 
 moving in some clubs of the citizen spirit, which has led 
 to children's parties and political action, has made them 
 the centre of activity in many deadened districts. The 
 increased power of the Club Union in making a public 
 opinion against drinking habits and in favour of public 
 service, is a promise that the tendency is upwards. 
 
 The danger of clubs is the common danger of the time- 
 that which arises from class feeling. Clubs in which work- 
 men associate with none but workmen, in which interests 
 are ail the same, in which education and experience are 
 limited within comparatively narrow limits, must be in 
 the large sense anti-social. Class clubs, whether they 
 are in Pall Mall or Bethnal Green, hardly consider the
 
 needs of others, or grasp the whole of the society of 
 which they are parts. They breed class jealousies and 
 antagonisms. They are dangerous. 
 
 It may be a distant hope, but for myself, I dare to 
 look for the time when the East End will lose its reproach 
 for dirt and meanness, when it will be as pleasant for 
 habitation, as healthy, as quiet as any part of London. 
 
 In those days people who have won more leisure will 
 not be in a hurry to move from their old neighbourhood. 
 They will remain in East London, keep up their club 
 membership, and by their wider interests increase its 
 power to recreate its members and serve others. 
 
 Meantime, it is good of those who have had the gift 
 of education to choose as their club a workmen's club, 
 and by making friends among the poor deepen their own 
 hearts while they widen others' heads. 
 
 SAMUEL A. BARNETT.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE CLUB AND INSTITUTE UNION 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 SOME DETAILS OF DEVELOPMENT .... 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 GROWTH UNDER DEMOCRATIC MANAGEMENT ... 22 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 DRINK IN WORKMEN'S CLUBS 36 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 EDUCATIONAL WORK OF CLUBS 53 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 WHY CLUBS FAIL ** 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 AN HOUR AT A CLUB 
 
 78
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 AMUSEMENTS 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 CONCLUSION ...... 95
 
 THE 
 
 CLUB -LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE CLUB AND INSTITUTE UNION. 
 
 IN an age like the present, having as one of its 
 main characteristics the development of the Labour 
 Movement, it is interesting to notice anything which 
 has an apparently opposite tendency. 
 
 The organisation of Labour is one of the most prom- 
 inent social evolutions of the day ; it has occupied, 
 and is occupying, the attention of thinkers and writers, 
 philanthropists, politicians, and clergy. The expression 
 " Labour Party " has become hackneyed. Representa- 
 tives of Labour sit in the House of Commons ; an 
 English Prime Minister has not only avowed his sym- 
 pathy with this movement, but has actually associated 
 himself with the cause by becoming a member of one 
 of our most prominent and democratic institutions. 
 
 Even to refer to such matters is to run the risk of 
 being regarded as behind the times. These things are 
 taken for granted; their growth and development are 
 matters of practical politics. 
 
 It is necessary, however, to draw attention to two 
 points in connection with the Labour Movement. 
 
 The movement, of course, has been one of emancipation 
 for the industrial classes. The workman has discovered 
 a new faculty in the power of organisation. He has be-
 
 2 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 come an active and interested member of the State, and 
 he knows it ; if you ask him for his credentials, he can 
 and will point you to a hundred associations and insti- 
 tutions which are largely his own handiwork, and the 
 result of his own forethought. 
 
 The second point is connected with the aim of the 
 Labour Movement. Its aim is undoubtedly to improve 
 the condition of the industrial classes, and by that we 
 usually mean to secure for them better wages and more 
 leisure, thus giving them the opportunities for self- 
 development, and a more happy and complete existence. 
 
 Now, this second point has a special significance of 
 its own, for the question to be dealt with is that of 
 the proper employment of leisure, and the "Leisure 
 Problem " at once forces itself upon our attention. It 
 would be premature in this context to expatiate at any 
 length upon this side of the question ; all we would do 
 is to draw attention to the fact that the Club Movement 
 has its own special bearing upon two most important 
 matters which have been brought into prominence by 
 the Labour Movement the Power of Organisation and 
 the Leisure Problem. 
 
 The Club Movement affords a striking illustration of 
 that faculty for organisation which has been created and 
 fostered in the industrial classes during the developments 
 of the Labour Movement. 
 
 In the Clerkenwell Koad, close to the Holborn Town 
 Hall, there is a spacious building. The gas lamp over 
 the door bears the inscription, Working Men's Club and 
 Institute Union, Ltd. 
 
 On entering this building we find the offices which 
 would naturally belong to the head-quarters of a great 
 organisation. We find the secretary and his assistants, 
 and other functionaries. We find ourselves in the 
 head-quarters of a Society which is responsible for the 
 existence or good management of hundreds of Working 
 Men's Clubs in London and the provinces.
 
 THE CLUB AND INSTITUTE UNION. 
 
 Hither have been sent, and are still being sent, depu- 
 tations from localities where the design of forming a 
 Workman's Club has been formed. These walls contain 
 a vast body of doctrine, the accumulation of thirty 
 years' experience in the formation and management of 
 such Clubs. Advice and assistance are given for nothing. 
 If the Club so formed is successfully conducted, its usual 
 ambition is to be enrolled as an affiliated member of the 
 Club and Institute Union. This distinction can be 
 conferred if the visitors appointed from head-quarters 
 to scrutinize the condition of the new institution bring 
 back a favourable report to the committee that holds 
 session in the building in the Clerkenwell Road. 
 
 Affiliation with the Club and Institute Union presents 
 many advantages which a newly-formed Club can ill 
 afford to dispense with. Instead of being a solitary and 
 isolated institution, the fact of its affiliation makes it 
 a member of a vast institution, and confers upon its 
 members possibilities of social intercourse which they 
 would otherwise lack, for the doors of all Clubs associated 
 to the Union are open to all members of all the Clubs 
 so associated, and the possibilities of common effort and 
 corporate enterprise are thus vouchsafed to a very ex- 
 tensive public. Again, in cases of dispute or difficulty, 
 a Club can be saved from a condition of anarchy or 
 possible collapse by an appeal to head-quarters, which 
 may result in the matter being quietly settled by arbi- 
 tration. 
 
 The faculty of self-government is also encouraged and 
 developed by affiliation to the Club and Institute Union. 
 Delegates sent from each club so affiliated meet at stated 
 intervals to discuss matters, and to legislate for the 
 Union as a whole ; and matters of vital importance in- 
 volving the entire institution are thus debated and 
 arranged on the principle of representative government. 
 
 But in order that a clear comprehension of this insti- 
 tution may be possible, we append an extract from the
 
 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 thirty-second Annual Keport, which gives a very clear 
 statement as to the scope and functions of this great 
 organisation. 
 
 "THE WORKING MEN'S CLUB AND INSTITUTE UNION, 
 
 LIMITED. 
 
 ESTABLISHED JUNE 14TH, 1862. 
 REGISTERED APRIL 18TH, 1889. 
 
 Awarded A Gold Medal, Amsterdam Exhibition, 1869. 
 A Grand Prize, Paris Exhibition, 1889. 
 
 "WHAT is IT? 
 
 " It is a Union of more than FOUR HUNDRED Working 
 Men's Clubs and Associations* spread all over the 
 country, and although these Clubs represent all phases 
 of thought, the Union itself is neutral in questions of 
 religion and politics. 
 
 " It is supported by the fees paid by these Clubs, and 
 by profits arising from the sale of books, publications, &c. 
 
 "It is managed by representatives elected by its 
 members every member having the right to one or 
 more representatives, in proportion to the number of its 
 own members. 
 
 "WHAT DOES IT DO? 
 
 " It issues to its members associate and pass cards, 
 which give the holder the privilege of honorary member- 
 ship of the other Clubs of the Union in all parts of the 
 country. 
 
 "It organises contests, and offers trophies and prizes 
 for athletics, billiards, chess, cricket, cribbage, draughts, 
 football, rifle-shooting, rowing, swimming, angling, whist, 
 and various other sports and pastimes. 
 
 "It owns and supports at Pegwell Bay a splendid 
 Convalescent Home for the use of Club members holding 
 
 * Certain Co-operative Societies are affiliated, and are not asked for 
 returns.
 
 THE CLUB AND INSTITUTE UNION. 5 
 
 the Union associate and pass cards. The rules and 
 regulations can be obtained of the Secretary. 
 
 "It gives free legal advice to its members, and acts 
 when desired as a Board of Arbitration upon all 
 questions connected with their management. 
 
 " It gives advice to all who ask for it, and issues 
 publications as to the best method of starting and 
 managing Clubs, and sends speakers to address meetings 
 in support of the establishment of these institutions. 
 
 "It gives free instruction in account keeping to the 
 secretaries of Union Clubs, and undertakes to examine 
 and report upon the accounts and financial position of 
 any Club which desires it to do so. 
 
 "It has arranged a system of account keeping for 
 Clubs, and supplies at very low prices all the books and 
 forms required for properly conducting a Club. 
 
 " It has a Circulating Library of over 4000 vols., from 
 which it lends to its members on payment of carriage 
 only boxes of thirty books, which may be exchanged 
 every three months. 
 
 " It has a Reference Library of over 2000 vols., any of 
 which are lent free of charge for six weeks to any member 
 applying for them. 
 
 " It holds examinations and offers prizes for debating, 
 essay writing, and for knowledge of history, political 
 economy, and social questions. 
 
 "It arranges Saturday afternoon visits, under the 
 guidance of eminent men, to various places of interest in 
 and around London. 
 
 "It issues a monthly journal, free to all its affiliated 
 Clubs, as a channel for the interchange of Club opinion, 
 and record of progress. 
 
 " It organises periodically an Industrial Exhibition of 
 work done by members of Clubs and their families, and 
 offers a large number of valuable prizes and certificates. 
 
 "It lends free of charge to any member forming an 
 Ambulance Class, a stretcher, diagrams, and all necessary
 
 6 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 apparatus for conducting the class, and when possible 
 provides for Metropolitan Clubs voluntary teaching by 
 duly qualified medical men. 
 
 "It gives assistance to Clubs in arranging reading 
 parties by lending books, and offers prizes to Clubs 
 showing the best work in this direction. 
 
 " It is in connection with the Working Men's College, 
 and with its help undertakes to provide qualified teachers 
 at a merely nominal fee for any subjects, for the study of 
 which a class may be formed by a Metropolitan member. 
 
 " It lends free to members forming Science or Technical 
 Classes all the text books required for the use of the 
 students, and maps, diagrams, globes, &c. 
 
 "It offers to members for competition, scholarships at 
 various educational institutions in London, and other 
 prizes. 
 
 "It lends to its members at a small charge, magic 
 lanterns, dissolving view apparatus, and slides, for 
 lectures and entertainments. 
 
 " Finally, it watches over the interests of the Club and 
 Institute movement generally, using its influence wher- 
 ever possible to obtain new privileges, and defending, 
 when necessary, any encroachment upon those already 
 obtained. 
 
 "Membership of the Union is recognised by the 
 authorities as a guarantee of the bond fides of a Club, and 
 it is therefore to the interest of all genuine Clubs to join 
 this important organisation. 
 
 "HOW TO JOIN THE UNION. 
 
 "A Club or Society desiring to join the Union must 
 fill in the form of application for admission as a member, 
 applying for one 5s. share for each hundred or part of one 
 hundred members on its books, but in no case need more 
 than four shares be applied for. When admitted it must 
 pay, in January,
 
 THE CLUB AND INSTITUTE UNION. 7 
 
 "An annual fee to the Union of 5s. 
 
 per hundred or part of one hundred members on its books, 
 but in no case is a Club required to pay more than 1 per 
 year. No further liability is incurred. 
 
 " Forms of application for membership and further 
 information can be obtained on application to 
 
 " THE SECRETARY, 
 " CLUB UNION BUILDINGS, CLERKENWELL ROAD, E.G." 
 
 Benefits such as those set down in the above extract are 
 not lightly to be cast aside or ignored, nor is there a Club 
 affiliated to the Union that would willingly resign its 
 claim to such advantages. 
 
 The danger of expulsion from the Union through 
 carelessness, bad conduct, or infringement of the laws, to 
 which all its members are subject, is a potent factor in 
 preserving careful management and salutary discipline 
 throughout these clubs as a whole. 
 
 The benefits alluded to above must not blind us to 
 what is perhaps the greatest boon of all. The sense of 
 corporate action and common effort is, perhaps, the most 
 important and far-reaching result of such an institution 
 as this, and it is easy to see how this is bound up with 
 that capacity for organisation and independent effort 
 which has been so strikingly evident among the industrial 
 classes of late years. 
 
 This brings us to the second point. How far does this 
 great organisation of Workmen's Clubs help us to solve 
 the ethically more difficult social problem affecting the 
 future of the industrial classes 1 To how great an extent 
 can the Club Movement be regarded as having succeeded 
 in the task of promoting a proper employment of the 
 leisure hours of the industrial classes 1 
 
 Most people who are acquainted with the conditions of 
 Labour in London and the great provincial towns are in 
 agreement as to the necessity of securing a higher stan-
 
 8 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 dard of living for the majority of the workers. " They 
 should be better educated, they should have more advan- 
 tages." These are vague phrases which express the ideas 
 of the humanitarian. There exists, however, a class of 
 objectors. They also have their current phrases about 
 the matter. They say, "Give the working man more 
 money, and he will spend more in drink ; give him more 
 leisure, and he will have more opportunity for abusing it 
 than he has now." 
 
 This latter view of the question, crude and unsatis- 
 factory as it is, cannot be ignored. There is an ugly 
 kernel of truth implied in it and it serves to bring into the 
 foreground that puzzle which has been racking people's 
 brains since the dawn of history, and which simply 
 amounts to this, How are people to be made better 1 ? 
 That question, however (if asked), must be answered 
 from the point of view of the modern inquirer. We must 
 examine the means at our disposal and answer accord- 
 ingly. Above all we must be careful to avoid final con- 
 demnation when we find that a certain method employed 
 has resulted in comparative failure. 
 
 It is idle to shirk facts. Everybody knows that there 
 is no panacea for evil. Looked at from one point of 
 view, we may say that all efforts, that all institutions, 
 have met with comparative failure in this unequal con- 
 flict. Religion, art, education, and all the institutions 
 connected therewith have done what they could do, but 
 the grim fact still remains working men, like their more 
 fortunate brothers, are apt to waste their money and to 
 abuse their leisure. 
 
 It is, however, interesting to notice that, while so much 
 time and thought has been spent, with such substantial 
 results, upon the organisation of Labour, " The Leisure 
 Problem " has been directly dealt with for something like 
 only thirty years ; and it is interesting to notice to how 
 great an extent clubs and the club movement have been 
 called into requisition in dealing with this great problem.
 
 THE CLUB AND INSTITUTE UNION. 
 
 There are, of course, other means of grace employed : 
 Evening Classes, Mutual Improvement Societies, Penny 
 Readings, etc., but the club has been more common, 
 more attractive, and more effective. University settle- 
 ments in London and other places tell the same tale. 
 They have evening classes and lectures in abundance, 
 which are usually patronised by the better sort. They 
 have also their club or clubs, the main object of which is 
 to ensure the proper employment of leisure for those who 
 as a rule do not figure greatly in educational endeavour. 
 It would not be too much to say that the Club and 
 Institute Union owes its existence to a like impulse. 
 
 One thing then that the Labour Movement has brought 
 into prominence is the Leisure Problem, and it is im- 
 possible to dissociate this from the Club Movement. 
 
 Now it is, of course, obvious that a club cannot be 
 regarded in any special sense as a means of salvation to 
 anybody. No wealthy Londoner who joins a club in the 
 West End is from that moment regarded by his friends as 
 a saved soul, nor, on the other hand, have we any right 
 to assume that the East End workman joins his club with 
 any specially exalted purpose, or that any spiritual re- 
 generation necessarily results from his having done so. 
 
 Nevertheless, one frequently hears workmen's clubs 
 condemned on that ground, and on that ground solely 
 a condemnation which would apply just as consistently 
 to a railway engine because it fails to tell us the time of 
 day. 
 
 But though a club cannot be regarded as a means of 
 salvation, yet, on the other hand, it provides the workman 
 with great opportunities. In the first place, if he belongs 
 to a club he has no excuse for spending his evenings in 
 the public-house. Before the establishment of workmen's 
 clubs the public-house was the only place where a man 
 could go to see his friends. If he spent much time there 
 public-house etiquette almost compelled him to drink too 
 much. He had to drink " for the good of the house."
 
 10 THE CLUB-LAND OP THE TOILER. 
 
 In other words, social intercourse amongst workmen 
 was a direct incentive to vice. Social intercourse with- 
 out this incentive has been rendered possible by the 
 Club Movement. 
 
 Again, in a workman's club there is usually a library, and 
 newspapers are always to be found in the reading room. 
 A fact connected with the early history of the Club and 
 Institute Union has an interesting significance in this 
 connection. Great difficulty was encountered in forming 
 village clubs owing to the opposition of the farmers, who 
 feared that opportunities for discussion and the reading 
 of newspapers might awaken in the labourer an incon- 
 venient desire to better himself. 
 
 Again, in many clubs lectures are organised and classes 
 held ; athletics are encouraged, and associations main- 
 tained with other useful organisations. 
 
 It is easy, then, to see how the " Leisure Problem " is 
 affected by these institutions ; but, at the same time, we 
 must be careful not to regard a club as anything more 
 than an institution which supplies men with the oppor- 
 tunities for social intercourse under morally innocuous 
 conditions. 
 
 This point of view helps us to estimate the work done 
 by these institutions in its proper and legitimate setting, 
 and supplies us with a fair basis of criticism. 
 
 It remains now to trace the growth of this movement, 
 and to form a judgment respecting its merits or demerits 
 as a recognised factor in the " Leisure Problem."
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 SOME DETAILS OF DEVELOPMENT. 
 
 (18631883.) 
 
 ON July llth, 1863, was presented at Burlington House 
 the first Annual Report of the Club and Institute Union. 
 This unpretending little document tells us that the Union 
 had been instrumental in establishing twenty-two* clubs. 
 Several other clubs, however, had derived advice and 
 assistance from the Union. 
 
 The Report itself occupies but four pages of print, one 
 of which contains a long list of subscribers, another the 
 balance sheet. 
 
 The second sentence of the Report is interesting, as it 
 states the objects of the founders of the Union. 
 
 " The Council, in presenting their first Annual Report 
 to the members of the Working Men's Club and Institute 
 Union, have to state that the Union has been formed for 
 the purpose of helping working men to establish clubs or 
 institutes where they can meet for conversation, business, 
 and mental improvement, with the means of recreation 
 and refreshment, free from the temptations of the public- 
 house ; these clubs at the same time constituting 
 societies for mutual helpfulness in various ways." 
 
 Then, further on, we are told the methods by which 
 the objects of the Union are to be realised. 
 
 " 1. By correspondence with friends of the movement, 
 
 * The Report in question says twenty-three, but a later Report 
 refers to it as only twenty-two.
 
 12 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 and with the officers of existing associations throughout 
 the kingdom. 
 
 "2. By personal visits, by their own officers and by 
 honorary deputations, to such places as might seem 
 to require to be visited. At these visits conferences 
 were to be held with the working classes, and with others 
 in the locality who may be interested in the object. 
 
 "3. By the dissemination of tracts, or special papers, 
 on subjects lying within the sphere of the Society's 
 operations. 
 
 "4. By supplying instructions for the guidance of 
 persons who might wish to establish clubs or institutes, 
 together with rules to define their objects, and to regulate 
 their proceedings. 
 
 " 5. By grants or loans of books for club libraries, 
 apparatus, diagrams, &c., to societies in membership 
 with the Union, in cases where local circumstances might 
 seem to call for such aid. 
 
 " 6. By grants of money in special cases, by way of 
 loan or otherwise, towards the building, enlarging, or 
 altering club houses, or procuring recreation grounds 
 for societies in the Union." 
 
 In 1863, then, we find a body of men, backed by a long 
 list of subscribers, who have formed themselves into a 
 Union for promoting the objects laid down in this 
 Report. They have existed as a Union for a year, and 
 have been at work for nine months, with the results 
 described. They have their offices at 150 Strand, where 
 their Secretary, the Rev. Henry Solly, has taken up his 
 abode, and where he writes pamphlets, and organises 
 propagandist meetings in London and the provinces. 
 Lord Brougham is President of the Council, and peers, 
 politicians, and clergy are to be found on the list of Vice- 
 Presidents. Twenty-two Workmen's Clubs have been 
 formed directly from the Union, and others have been 
 assisted and encouraged from the same quarter. 
 
 So much for the first year.
 
 SOME DETAILS OF DEVELOPMENT. 13 
 
 The next four years are chiefly characterised by the pro- 
 pagandist work done in the provinces. Mr Solly was very 
 diligent in this sphere of the work. The reports he 
 presents to the Union are, however, somewhat vague. 
 In the second Report, for instance, it is stated that fifty- 
 five new clubs have been formed under the guidance and 
 agency of the Union, but it is not stated what the exact 
 connection is between these clubs and the Union ; there 
 is no process of afliliation mentioned, nor are we neces- 
 sarily led to infer that the Club and Institute Union 
 exercised any controlling force in the matter of their 
 management and conduct. 
 
 The same criticism applies to the third Annual Report 
 (1864-65). We are told that forty-one new clubs have 
 been formed, that the total number of clubs is 116, 
 that the population of these clubs amounts to about 
 30,000 men. But that is all. 
 
 The fourth Annual Report tells us that 125 new clubs 
 have been formed during the year. This is a large 
 number, but we are not told how many have collapsed 
 meanwhile. The following is the passage dealing with 
 this matter in the Report : 
 
 "The number of these societies, either established or 
 first made known to the Council during the past year, is 
 much larger than at any previous period, being 125, as 
 compared with 41 last year, 55 the year before, and 22 in 
 the first year of the Society's operations." 
 
 Later on, in the same Report, we have a more or less 
 definite statement respecting affiliated clubs. 
 
 " The general subject of the relation of affiliated clubs 
 to the Union has been under frequent and serious 
 discussion at meetings of the Council. . . . They 
 (the Council) are strongly of opinion that much more 
 may be done by local district Unions for the welfare of 
 clubs in their districts than can possibly be accom- 
 plished by the parent Society (the Club and Institute 
 Union), which has to maintain relations, involving more
 
 14 THE CLUB-LAND OP THE TOILER. 
 
 or less expense, with clubs all over the kingdom. With 
 a view to leaving the club free to give contributions 
 from their too often slender resources to the proposed 
 District Unions, the Council have resolved to abolish 
 the affiliation fee of 5s. a year, retaining only a registra- 
 tion fee of 2s. 6d., to be payed when a club first comes 
 into the Union." 
 
 We do not know what percentage of clubs, "estab- 
 lished or first made known to the Council," had meantime 
 been paying their affiliation fee of 5s. a year. 
 
 There is, however, a useful piece of information given 
 us in this report respecting self-supporting clubs. Forty- 
 six may be described as either entirely self-supporting or 
 almost so. But we are again left in the dark as to 
 whether these are among the clubs that have paid up their 
 5s. fee of affiliation. 
 
 This year the Council hit upon a useful and very 
 necessary method of acquiring information respecting 
 club life. 
 
 Forms were issued " requesting information on various 
 points connected with the condition and working of 
 clubs and institutes." Ninety-four "returns were ob- 
 tained, a number far below that hoped for, and the 
 same difficulty has existed more or less till quite recently. 
 But here again we cannot tell to what clubs such forms 
 were issued, or how great a percentage of those sending 
 in returns were affiliated clubs. 
 
 The fifth Annual Report tells us of the formation of 38 
 new clubs, but the effect is somewhat neutralised when 
 we find that 34 are defunct. This year 69 are known as 
 almost self-supporting, but the old difficulty is ex- 
 perienced in the matter of securing returns. 
 
 The sixth Annual Report (1867-68) tells us of the resig- 
 nation of the post of secretary by Mr Solly. For the first 
 five years the work of the Union may be summed up as 
 being mainly propagandist, and to this sphere of labour 
 the late secretary was eminently suited.
 
 SOME DETAILS OP DEVELOPMENT. 
 
 15 
 
 It will be convenient here to append a short table 
 showing the development of the movement from the years 
 1868-1882, in so far as it is illustrated by the number of 
 clubs found existing from reference to the annual reports 
 of this period. 
 
 The information derived from the reports after the 
 year 1867 approaches nearer to accuracy in this matter, 
 although the constant difficulty of obtaining returns 
 renders our information on this head more or less in- 
 complete. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Total No. of 
 Clubs known 
 to the Union.* 
 
 No. affiliated 
 to the Union. 
 
 No. of 
 affiliated Clubs 
 in London. 
 
 1868 
 
 312 
 
 72 
 
 
 1869 
 
 355 
 
 128 
 
 
 1870 
 
 404 
 
 196 ?t 
 
 
 1871 
 
 440 
 
 230 
 
 
 1872 
 
 507 
 
 245 
 
 
 1873 
 
 535 
 
 245? 
 
 ... 
 
 1874 
 
 579 
 
 257 
 
 ... 
 
 1875 
 
 644 
 
 312 
 
 75 
 
 1876 
 
 682 
 
 382 
 
 68 
 
 1877 
 
 805? 
 
 435 
 
 96 
 
 1878 
 
 829 
 
 450 
 
 
 1879 
 
 ... 
 
 483 
 
 92 
 
 1880 
 
 932 
 
 520 
 
 ... 
 
 1881 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 
 1882 
 
 839 
 
 ... 
 
 88 
 
 This table gives us a skeleton of the numerical develop- 
 ment of the movement until 1882, and the years prior to 
 1868 have been dealt with through the earlier reports. 
 
 * Many of these Clubs, though not affiliated to the Union, and claim- 
 ing no direct connection therewith, owed their origin to the same 
 impulse and were inmost cases formed under its advice and direction, 
 
 f Sixty-eight fresh clubs were affiliated this year, and this number 
 added on to the 128 existing the year before gives us 196. This, 
 however, is assuming that none had collapsed meanwhile, which is 
 improbable.
 
 16 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 To draw the reader's attention to each annual report in 
 turn would be wearisome and little instructive ; we will 
 therefore select certain epochs during the first twenty 
 years, and trace the progress of the movement by special 
 reference to the fifteenth and twentieth Annual Reports, 
 which will bring us down to the year 1882. 
 
 This period of twenty years supplies us with a con- 
 venient line of division in tracing the growth of this 
 movement, owing principally to the fact that shortly 
 afterwards important changes were introduced into the 
 management and constitution of the Union, giving it, so 
 to speak, its modern form. And these changes require 
 special and individual attention. 
 
 We will begin, then, with a statement of the condition 
 of the Club and Institute Union gathered from the tenth 
 Annual Report for the year 1871-72. 
 
 We learn that the total number of clubs known to the 
 Society were, at this date, 507. That of these 67 were 
 either new clubs or brought to the knowledge of the 
 Society for the first time. This increase was somewhat 
 smaller than in the two preceding years. There were 
 245 clubs affiliated to the Union at the time when this 
 Report was issued, 37 having been added during the 
 preceding twelve months. 
 
 From the statistical returns obtained from 164 clubs 
 the average number of members in each is about 150. 
 
 Then we may notice the following facts in regard to 
 the 164 clubs which have sent in returns : 
 
 With respect to economic provision, we find that in 19 
 there are one or more Provident Societies; in 10 there 
 are Penny Savings Banks ; in 5 there are Coal Clubs ; and 
 in 3 there are Building Societies. 
 
 With reference to Educational Classes, we learn that in 
 11 clubs French is taught ; in 27, reading ; in 28, writing ; 
 in 29, arithmetic ; in 10, drawing ; in 7, chemistry ; in 11, 
 singing. That 319 lectures have been delivered during 
 the year in these 154 clubs.
 
 SOME DETAILS OF DEVELOPMENT. 17 
 
 The following details are also supplied : In 15 clubs 
 beer and other alcoholic drinks were supplied to members ; 
 64 were maintained without subscriptions from outsiders ; 
 68 of the clubs were stated to have made progress during 
 the year, whereas 20 had retrograded, and the rest were 
 reported to have remained as they were. 
 
 It is worthy of notice that out of 164 clubs sending in 
 returns, only 64 were known to be self-supporting i.e. 
 rather more than one-third. 
 
 We will now take a glance at the state of affairs five 
 years later, and summarize the contents of the fifteenth 
 Annual Report. 
 
 This year we gather that 194 clubs have made returns. 
 The following comment is noticeable : " Unfortunately 
 but a small number of clubs respond to our appeal (i.e. 
 send in returns), so that we can arrive only at an 
 approximate knowledge of the facts. The metropolitan 
 clubs are more especially backward in this respect." 
 
 Under the heading " Educational Work " we find that in 
 40 per cent, of the clubs which have sent in returns, there 
 are classes the total number of such classes being 147. 
 
 Of these, 70 were for elementary instruction ; 36 for 
 instruction in science and art. The other subjects taught 
 were elocution, french, shorthand, and singing. 
 
 Lectures were given in 25 per cent. Altogether there 
 were 351 lectures delivered in the 194 clubs. 
 
 In 82 per cent, there were libraries ; and this estimate 
 includes those clubs whose only stock of books consisted 
 of those contained in the " Union " boxes. 
 
 In the 158 clubs which had a library there were 
 94,915 volumes an average of 600 volumes. 
 
 Next we come to Provident Work, and find that in 27 
 clubs there were Provident Societies, including those 
 established for supplying the members with houses, 
 watches, boots, and clothing. 
 
 In 38 clubs there were Loan Societies, Penny Banks, 
 Coal, Flour, and Tea Clubs.
 
 18 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 Therefore in 23 per cent, there existed some organisa- 
 tion for Provident purposes. 
 
 Under the heading " Recreation," we see that in 66 per 
 cent, there were musical and elocutionary entertain- 
 ments. The number of such fixtures amounted to 
 788. 
 
 In 35 per cent, of these clubs beer is supplied. The 
 following is an interesting extract : " The Council 
 requested that it might be stated in the returns what 
 was the result of the sale of such refreshments. In 
 nearly every case it is stated that the result was 
 satisfactory, and generally ' most satisfactory.' In no 
 case is there any indication of the contrary." 
 
 "How far are clubs self-supporting?" is the next 
 heading, and we learn that 52 per cent, of the clubs 
 which have made returns are wholly self-supporting. 
 
 As to the general condition of the clubs, it is stated 
 that 41 per cent, have made progress during the year, 
 that 20 per cent, have remained very much as they were ; 
 and that 15 per cent, have been faring badly, although 
 the nature of their misfortunes is not hinted at. 
 
 It is instructive to notice that in 1871-72 alcoholic 
 drinks were supplied in only 15 clubs out of 164 
 sending in returns. We also learn that rather more 
 than one-third of that number are described as self- 
 supporting. Now, five years later, in 1876-77, out of 194 
 clubs which have made returns, 35 per cent, supply beer 
 to the members. But by now, rather more than half of 
 these clubs are self-supporting, and there is little or no 
 doubt that this increased financial independence was to 
 some extent due to the increased sale of exciseable drinks. 
 This matter raises the much vexed question as to the ex- 
 pediency and morality of permitting the sale of intoxi- 
 cants in Workmen's Clubs, and the question will be fully 
 dealt with on both heads later on. It is sufficient here 
 to mention that the difficulty of conducting Workmen's 
 Clubs on teetotal lines is very great, and especially so
 
 SOME DETAILS OP DEVELOPMENT. 19 
 
 when financial independence is aimed at. Such clubs 
 are usually short-lived. This difficulty had to be faced 
 by the Council of the Club and Institute Union, and 
 their method of dealing with it will be dwelt upon 
 hereafter. 
 
 Perhaps the most important thing to notice under the 
 head of education is the statement respecting the 
 libraries. An average of six hundred volumes a club is, 
 considering the poverty of these institutions, surprisingly 
 good. 
 
 The expression " Union Boxes " may require explana- 
 tion. Many clubs when first started would be too poor 
 to supply themselves with a library of their own. They 
 could, however, if affiliated to the Union, procure a loan 
 of a box full, or several boxes, full of books from the Club 
 and Institute Union Library. This supplies us with one 
 useful illustration of the way in which a club might 
 directly profit by attaching itself to this organisation. 
 
 The twelfth Annual Keport tells us that there are fifty 
 thousand members in the clubs to which the Union now 
 lends books. 
 
 We will now pass on to the twentieth Annual Report, 
 and incorporate a passage which is useful, both as a 
 retrospect and as a statement of the condition of things 
 at this time. 
 
 SUMMARY OF WOEK DONE BY THE SOCIETY. 
 ( i.e. Club and Institute Union.) 
 
 " 1 . The Society during the twenty years of its existence 
 has been ( more or less ) directly instrumental in founding 
 upwards of one thousand clubs and institutes having 
 about 100,000 members. 
 
 "2. The number of clubs affiliated to the Society is 
 upwards of 500, having more than 75,000 members ; and 
 about thirty new clubs join the Society annually.
 
 20 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 "3. More than 50 per cent, of the clubs are wholly self- 
 supporting. 
 
 " 4. The Union has, during the last ten years, lent to its 
 affiliated clubs upwards of 50,000 volumes of carefully- 
 selected literature. 
 
 "5. Members of the Council have, during the same 
 period, attended public meetings in all parts of the king- 
 dom, for the purpose of explaining the aim and work of 
 such institutions, and of delivering free lectures. 
 
 "6. On an average, 3000 letters a year are received, 
 and a large number of visitors come to the Society's 
 office, from all parts of the kingdom, for the purpose of 
 obtaining information and help. 
 
 " 7. To encourage manly and healthy forms of recrea- 
 tion, the Society has for many years past given trophies 
 and prizes for skill in chess, cricket, football, rowing, 
 athletics and swimming ; and more recently for choral 
 singing. 
 
 "8. To encourage intellectual culture, the Society 
 grants money prizes for the best essays on questions of 
 practical interest to workmen, and for the best papers in 
 examinations on special periods of history ; also for 
 ability in debating. 
 
 " 9. At the commencement of each winter the services of 
 men of high attainments are sought as honorary lecturers 
 at the London clubs ( about 90 in number ) ; lists of the 
 lecturers and subjects being printed and issued. 
 
 " 10. By an arrangement with the proprietors of House 
 and Home, a column of that periodical is reserved weekly 
 for articles, announcements, and general information 
 useful to the clubs. This affords the means of constant 
 communication between them and the Union Council, by 
 whom the matter contained in the column thus placed at 
 their disposal is supplied. 
 
 " 11. The Society affords information and advice as to 
 various forms of provident and educational work which 
 can be carried on at the several clubs and institutes.
 
 SOME DETAILS OF DEVELOPMENT. 21 
 
 " 12. Representatives of the London clubs meet monthly 
 at the Union Office for the purpose of exchanging views 
 and suggestions with the Chairman of the Council ; and 
 nine club representatives are elected annually by the 
 clubs as members of the Union Council. 
 
 "A large part of the operations being carried on by 
 members of the Council, no Society is conducted more 
 economically." 
 
 The allusion made above to the proprietors of House 
 and Home recalls the fact that the Club and Institute 
 Union had established its own journal in the year 1874, 
 but that it had been suspended in the year 1878 through 
 lack of means. 
 
 In so brief a sketch as this, it has been useful to em- 
 ploy the method of comparison, and to estimate growth 
 by a definite statement of the condition of the Union at 
 various epochs. We come now to a period in the history 
 of the movement which demands special attention. 
 
 We alluded above to a change which took place in 
 management and constitution which gave to the Union 
 its modern form. This change, which really began in the 
 year 1884, and was not completed until some years later, 
 was, to put it shortly, the reorganisation of the Union 
 on democratic lines.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 GROWTH UNDER DEMOCRATIC MANAGEMENT. 
 
 OUR object in this chapter will be to show how, by 
 adopting a democratic system of management, the Club 
 and Institute Union was able to rid itself of its two most 
 menacing dangers. In the first place, its existence was 
 constantly being threatened by the scarcity of funds ; and, 
 secondly, its influence was so slight and uncertain, that 
 it was impossible for the officers at head-quarters to obtain 
 information respecting the bulk of clubs that claimed 
 affiliation with the Union. In 1885, for instance, the 
 year after the change, or partial change, was effected, riot 
 one-fifth of the affiliated clubs send in returns. But 
 when we reach 1894 there is scarcely a metropolitan 
 club that neglects to do so, whereas in former years 
 these clubs were the most neglectful of all in complying 
 with this regulation. 
 
 Let us deal with the matter of finance first. 
 
 From the year 1869 to 1886 the Club and Institute 
 Union had been suffering from pecuniary embarrassments, 
 although in 1884 the pressure is considerably relieved. 
 
 We will spare the reader the horrors of balance-sheets, 
 and content ourselves with noting a few of the yearly 
 deficits. 
 
 In 1869-70 there was a deficit of 127. The next year 
 ends with a deficit of 120. The year 1873-74 closed with 
 one of " upwards of 100," and in 1883 there is still a 
 debt left of 80. 
 
 The following year, however (1884), things look better, 
 and we note that there is a large increase in the amount
 
 GROWTH UNDER DEMOCRATIC MANAGEMENT. 23 
 
 of funds derived from the clubs themselves, while sub- 
 scriptions and donations from outside have not increased 
 in anything like the same proportion. 
 
 In 1887-88 the financial position is reported as "sound."* 
 In 1888-89 there is an excess of assets over liabilities of 
 287. 
 
 Now the interest attaching to these figures lies in the 
 fact that it was in the year 1884 that the constitution 
 of the Union was reorganised on a more representative 
 basis. 
 
 The following statement, relative to the change then 
 introduced, is taken from the Annual Report of the year 
 1884-85 : 
 
 " ' It is from discussion and collective action that one 
 whose daily occupations concentrate his interests in a 
 small circle, learns to feel for and with his fellow-citizens, 
 and becomes consciously a member of a great community : 
 but discussions fly over the heads of those who have no 
 votes.' This sentence is the key to the change which was 
 introduced into our constitution last year, and explains the 
 principle which moved those who introduced it. Has the 
 result proved its correctness ? Without doubt, the answer 
 is that it has. 
 
 " The work achieved by the Union in past years could 
 only have been done under its then constitution ; but 
 the time came when it was evident that the work was 
 being done on wrong principles, and this through the 
 very success that had been reached. So long as the main 
 object was to found and establish clubs, it was necessary 
 that the impulse should come from outside; but when 
 the chief work of the Union came to be the uniting and 
 
 * In 1872-73 the Queen gave a donation of 50 to the Union funds, 
 and the Duke of Bedford 100. 
 
 In 1874-75 Lord Rosebery gave 1 73 to cover the deficit of the former 
 year. 
 
 In 1875-76 the Queen gave another donation, and the Duke of 
 Bedford another 100.
 
 24 THE CLUB-LAND OP THE TOILER. 
 
 controlling the large number of clubs now in federation, 
 that this should be done from outside was clearly wrong ; 
 it had in it some taint of patronage that rock on which, 
 with the best intentions, so many societies have been 
 wrecked. That a Union which was doing all in its power 
 to found its clubs on an independent and self-supporting 
 basis should deny to those clubs an adequate share in 
 the management of the greater Club, the Union, of which 
 they formed a part, was an anomaly which could not 
 last. The change was made, and the Union is now a 
 thoroughly representative body. Nor must the character 
 of that representation be forgotten, for in it lies one of 
 the strongest points of this organisation. Being, as it is, 
 a Union of those who believe in the value of Working 
 Men's Clubs, it is primarily composed of working men, 
 who feel the desirability of such institutions ; but there 
 are many who, though not " working men " in the com- 
 mon acceptation of the term, yet feel equally strongly 
 the advantage of such institutions. Both these, then, 
 should be represented, as, under the present rules, we 
 find they are the clubs by their fifty-six elected repre- 
 sentatives, the subscribers by their twenty-four elected 
 representatives. So that the subscribers may feel that 
 they, too, are members of a Union, and that they are 
 working in the highest and best way in which work can 
 be done working with those they wish to help, not 
 merely working for them." 
 
 The appended table will show how the financial posi- 
 tion of the Union was affected by the new constitution. 
 The sums subscribed represent what was payed in from 
 the clubs only, during each year. 
 
 Year 
 Sum subscribed 
 
 1881 
 201 
 
 1882 
 216 
 
 1883 
 241 
 
 1884* 
 329 
 
 1885 
 459 
 
 1886 
 558 
 
 1887 
 682 
 
 1888 
 762 
 
 1889 
 877 
 
 The year in which the constitution of the Union was changed.
 
 GROWTH UNDER DEMOCRATIC MANAGEMENT. 25 
 
 From 1881-83 the increase in the amount of subscrip- 
 tions from clubs themselves is only 40 for the three 
 years. From 1884-89 there is an increase every year of, 
 on an average, considerably over a hundred pounds. 
 
 The Council for the year 1885-86 was composed of 
 eighty-one members. Of these fifty-eight were members 
 of affiliated clubs, and appointed to seats on the Council 
 in order to represent those clubs ; the remaining twenty- 
 three, however, were elected in virtue of no such con- 
 nection. Originally, of course, the whole Council was 
 composed of such people good people who were pro- 
 moters of a cause they believed to be a useful one ; nor 
 was it until the year 1871-72 that any idea at all of re- 
 presentative control was thought of. In that year five 
 delegates elected by the affiliated clubs themselves were 
 admitted to seats on the Council : in other words, two 
 hundred and forty -five clubs supplied only Jive members 
 to a Council of between forty and fifty persons, which 
 existed for the sake of promoting the welfare of these 
 clubs. By the year 1882 this number has increaed to 
 nine. Nothing very democratic so far ! This state of 
 things seems to have obtained until what we may call 
 The Revolution of 1884-85. 
 
 In the year 1888-89 the democratic development was 
 consummated. Mr J. J. Dent, who had been appointed 
 Secretary in 1882, was an ardent Co-operator, and instru- 
 mental in maintaining connections between the Club 
 Union and the Co-operative Union ; and in this year, 
 1885-86, the Club Union became a Registered Co-opera- 
 tive Society and a member of the Co-operative Union. 
 The twenty-seventh Annual Report tells us how, after 
 twenty-six years' existence as a voluntary organisation, 
 the Club and Institute Union has become a legally- 
 constituted corporate body, having power to continue in 
 its own name all the varied work which has hitherto 
 been identified with it ; to carry on largely increased 
 trading operations, and to raise and lend capital to its
 
 26 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 members and others with a security not before so easily 
 obtainable. Its membership is now restricted to clubs 
 and societies the management of which is of a represen- 
 tative character, and the membership of individuals has 
 become a tradition of the past. To become a member of 
 the Union a club or society must be a shareholder holding 
 from one to four five-shilling transferable shares in pro- 
 portion to the number of its own members, and must pay 
 to the general funds an annual fee of from five shillings 
 to one pound. The Union being registered under the 
 Industrial and Provident Societies Act, 1876, the liability 
 of its shareholders is limited to the amount of the shares 
 taken up, so that the risk of membership is in no way 
 increased. In addition to the power of admitting to 
 membership, the Union can affiliate to itself such societies 
 as desire some of its privileges but are not able to become 
 shareholders. 
 
 The change made in the constitution is an important 
 one. The ownership and management of the Union is 
 now entirely in the hands of the clubs which belong 
 to it, and it rests entirely with them to show by their 
 careful management of its business, their judicious ex- 
 tension of its usefulness, and a steady development of 
 its financial strength, that they are alive to the respon- 
 sibility undertaken by them, and equal to bearing it 
 successfully. 
 
 In order to comply with the requirements of the In- 
 dustrial and Provident Societies Act the rules had to be 
 set forth that : 
 
 "The object of the Union is to carry on trades of 
 general advisers, publishers, stationers, and booksellers, 
 general dealers, and manufacturers, both wholesale and 
 retail, of any article which any general meeting from 
 time to time directs or authorises." 
 
 At first sight this seems to limit considerably the scope 
 of the Union, but since the Act permits any use being 
 made of the profits of the society which may be set forth
 
 GROWTH UNDER DEMOCRATIC MANAGEMENT. 27 
 
 in the rules, the difficulty was overcome by the provision 
 that the profits of the Union should be applied as 
 follows : 
 
 " (a) In allotting to a Central Hall Fund, to be applied 
 towards building, or purchasing, or hiring land and 
 premises for the Union, an amount not less than 
 the amount of subscriptions and donations re- 
 ceived from persons other than members. 
 
 " (b) In assisting in the establishment and mainten- 
 ance of Clubs and Institutes or Associations 
 where the members may meet for business, 
 mental improvement, and recreation. 
 
 " (c) In promoting mutual intercourse between mem- 
 bers and others interested in improving the con- 
 dition of the people of the United Kingdom. 
 
 " (d) In promoting education by the establishment 
 of Classes, Examinations, and Scholarships. 
 
 " (e) In maintaining Circulating and Reference Libraries 
 with the best works in all departments of Litera- 
 ture, Science, Art, and Politics, for the use of 
 members. 
 
 " (/) In promoting such social, provident, and re- 
 creative purposes as may from time to time be 
 found desirable. 
 
 "(#) In subscribing to the funds of the Co-operative 
 Union. 
 
 " (A) In developing the business of the Union." 
 
 This portion of the Report concludes thus : 
 " It will thus be seen that the work of the Union is 
 in no sense limited, while the greater stability given 
 to it by the legal protection afforded by registration 
 is secured. In order to qualify as shareholders those 
 clubs which belonged to the Union previous to its re- 
 gistration, the required number of fully-paid shares 
 have been allotted to them out of the balance of profit 
 carried forward from last year."
 
 28 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 It will be useful here to append a table showing the 
 financial progress of the Union from the years 1883 to 
 1893. The table is taken from the current Annual 
 Report. The Annual Report of the year 1891-92 states 
 that although "the number of clubs admitted to the 
 Union during the year has not been so large as in 
 some recent years, and the number removed from the 
 list has been somewhat greater than usual, still it is a 
 fact that the position of the Union is one of greater 
 financial strength than in any previous year." 
 
 Two items in the following table placed under 
 " Receipts " may require a little explanation the terms 
 "Associate Cards" and "Monthly Pass Cards." When 
 one joins an affiliated club, one obtains the right of 
 entry into other clubs so affiliated and so associated, 
 by the purchase of a card called "Associate Card." 
 Most affiliated clubs in London are in this way associ- 
 ated to the Union as well ; some few, however, that 
 do not encourage visitors from other affiliated clubs, 
 are content with the privilege of affiliation alone. This 
 " Associate Card " costs sixpence, and the sixpences so 
 secured are the property of the Union, and not of the 
 individual club. " Monthly Pass Cards " are issued to 
 all members on payment of their monthly fee (of six- 
 pence or sometimes more) to the club to which they 
 belong. This " Pass Card " costs a half -penny, and this 
 half-penny, again, is the property of the Union and 
 not of the individual club. 
 
 If one wishes to enter another club so affiliated and 
 associated, one should be armed with the "Associate 
 Card," and with the " Monthly Pass Card," to show that 
 one is actually a financial member of the Union for that 
 month.
 
 GROWTH UNDER DEMOCRATIC MANAGEMENT. 29 
 
 II 
 
 
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 III! i
 
 30 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 Now in 1883 we find there is a deficit of 80. 
 
 In 1884, when the reform in the organisation of the 
 Union took place, there is a balance of 42 ; and in 1893 
 there is the large balance of 1273. It is, further, in- 
 teresting to notice how the growing financial prosperity 
 of the Union has been consistent with the falling off in 
 the amounts of subscriptions and donations from outside. 
 In 1883 the total amount of money realised by the Union 
 was 640 ; of this amount 332, or rather more than half, 
 was composed of subscriptions and donations from out- 
 side ; and there was a deficit at the end of the year of 80. 
 
 Contrast with this the state of affairs in 1893 ; and 
 in making this comparison let us remember that in its 
 early days the Union was practically "run" by outside 
 support. The fourth Annual Report (1865-66), for instance, 
 tells us that of all the Clubs in the Union (and there must 
 have been upwards of 200 of them, and possibly many 
 more) only 46 are self-supporting, or " almost self-support- 
 ing." In 1866-67, sixty-nine are known as " almost self- 
 supporting." Now, in 1893, the net income of the Union 
 amounts to 1468. For how much of this are subscrip- 
 tions and donations from outside responsible ? A humble 
 175 ! and there is an excess of assets over liabilities of 
 1273. Nor has 1894 a less satisfactory record. Not only 
 are the Clubs belonging to the Union self-supporting, but 
 they supply the bulk of the income which is used by 
 the central authorities for the general purposes of the 
 Union. So much, then, for the results of democratic 
 methods in the sphere of finance. 
 
 It will be a relief to turn from the question of finance 
 to other points of interest ; and we will revert once more 
 to the year 1884-85, the year which may be regarded as 
 the dividing line in the history of the Club and Institute 
 Union. The Annual Report for that year contains an 
 interesting set of club statistics, and affords a good basis 
 of comparison whereby we may judge of progress or 
 retrogression from various aspects.
 
 GROWTH UNDER DEMOCRATIC MANAGEMENT. 31 
 
 What follows is from p. 17 of the twenty-third Annual 
 Report : 
 
 "We have endeavoured to obtain statistics as to the 
 clubs, and for that purpose sent out to every club we 
 knew a form to be tilled up and returned : of these, 
 unfortunately, only 119 have been returned to us, from 
 which we have drawn up the following table : 
 
 17,864. Total number of Members. 
 104 Clubs are affiliated to the Union. 
 53 are Registered under the Friendly Societies 
 
 Act. 
 
 7 are incorporated under a trust-deed. 
 45 have 79 provident societies connected with 
 
 them. 
 
 83 have libraries, with 66,768 volumes. 
 68 have lectures. 
 20 have educational classes. 
 78 supply excisable articles. 
 41 do not. 
 68 recognise the Union Associate Card i.e. admit 
 
 as visitors members of other clubs producing 
 
 the card." 
 
 The twenty-ninth Annual Report for the year 1890-91 
 supplies us with a table of statistics affording us useful 
 points of comparison with 1884-85. 
 
 The following is the record on p. 63 of the twenty-ninth 
 Annual Report : 
 
 SUMMARY OP STATISTICS. 
 
 These summaries are imperfect, even for the 197 clubs 
 from which returns have been received since many of 
 them have not replied to all the questions. The number 
 of clubs replying ( which should be 197) is shown after 
 brackets in the last column.
 
 32 
 
 THE CLUB-LAND OP THE TOILER. 
 
 
 CLUBS. 
 
 Totals. 
 
 Metro- 
 politan 
 District. 
 
 Provin- 
 cial. 
 
 Total Number of Clubs mak- 
 
 
 
 
 
 ing returns, . 
 
 82 
 
 115 
 
 197 
 
 
 Having political objects, 
 Having social objects only, 
 Registered under Friendly 
 
 47 
 35 
 
 17 
 98 
 
 ] 
 
 [197 
 
 Societies Act, . 
 Unregistered, 
 
 70 
 12 
 
 67 
 
 42 
 
 137? 
 
 54| 
 
 191 
 
 Total number of members, 
 Average number of members, 
 Supply excisable drink, 
 
 22,315 
 279 
 73 
 
 25,789 
 224 
 87 
 
 48,10* 
 251* 
 
 160 ' 
 
 \ 
 
 Do not supply excisable 
 
 
 
 
 187 
 
 drink, .... 
 
 6 
 
 21 
 
 27 
 
 
 Open on Sundays, 
 Closed on Sundays, . 
 Have lectures on Sundays, 
 
 68 
 10 
 
 48 
 
 69 
 38 
 21 
 
 137 
 48 
 69 
 
 185 
 
 No lectures on Sundays, . 
 
 31 
 
 91 
 
 122 
 
 191 
 
 Have lectures on week-days, 
 
 57 
 
 57 
 
 114 
 
 1 Q.ZL 
 
 No lectures on week-days, 
 
 19 
 
 52 
 
 71 
 
 LoO 
 
 Have concerts on Sundays, 
 No concerts on Sundays, . 
 iHave games on Sundays, . 
 No games on Sundays 
 [Have special reading-room, 
 Have libraries, . 
 
 41 
 40 
 18 
 63 
 63 
 67 
 
 16 
 96 
 1 
 112 
 96 
 79 
 
 57 
 136 
 KT 
 175 
 159 " 
 146 
 
 193 
 
 -194 
 
 Total number of vols. in 
 
 
 
 
 
 libraries, 
 
 31,532 
 
 33,824 
 
 65,356 
 
 Freehold premises, 
 
 12 
 
 21 
 
 33 llQ7 
 
 Leasehold premises, . 
 
 70 
 
 94 
 
 164 } 197 
 
 We learn from the same report that 422 clubs are 
 affiliated to the Union at this time. Now, in 1885, out of 
 the 119 sending in reports, 104 are reported as being 
 affiliated to the Union, yet an earlier passage in the 
 same report tells us that the total number of affiliated 
 clubs is 543. Therefore in 1891 a better average of 
 returns is sent in than in 1885. In 1885 not one-fifth of
 
 GROWTH UNDER DEMOCRATIC MANAGEMENT. 33 
 
 affiliated clubs take the trouble to send in returns, 
 whereas in 1891 almost half have done so. 
 
 Then, again, the statistics produced for the year 1891 
 are more elaborate and workmanlike than those for 
 1885. A distinction is drawn between the metropolitan 
 and provincial- clubs, and both are dealt with separately. 
 Many more points are adverted to, and a more complete 
 knowledge is displayed. In 1885 the doings and fortunes 
 of not one-fifth of the whole institution are known to the 
 governing body. In 1891 the doings and fortunes of 
 almost half of the whole are known at head-quarters and 
 to the club-public. Let us draw attention to one instruc- 
 tive item. We find in 1885 that the total number of 
 members known to the authorities is 17,864; it is to 
 these people that the given items of information refer 
 they are, as it were, under the eye of this organisation ; 
 their method of employing their leisure, is, to a certain 
 extent, and, by their own wish, subjected to an organised 
 control. 
 
 In 1891 that population has increased to 48,108. In 
 other words, although the branches of this institution 
 have become somewhat less extensive, yet its capacity as 
 an effective and controlling force has been more than 
 doubled. 
 
 We have shown how, during the same period, the 
 management of the Union itself had been steadily im- 
 proving, how it had been rescued from a condition of 
 dependence and insolvency to one of freedom and financial 
 prosperity; and it has been pointed out that these changes 
 for the better have been contemporaneous with the re- 
 constitution of the Union on an independent and repre- 
 sentative basis. 
 
 We will now proceed from the past to the present. A 
 like summary of statistics has been placed at our disposal 
 through the courtesy of the present Secretary of the 
 Union, Mr B. T. Hall, and of the late Secretary, Mr 
 J. J. Dent.
 
 34 
 
 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 S5 
 
 B| 
 rfS 
 
 qnio aad 
 
 888J3AV 
 
 -I 
 
 > 
 
 s 2 
 
 SJ.180U03 I 
 
 
 
 SI 
 *l 
 
 P 
 
 4 
 
 Ttl IO 
 
 a s
 
 GROWTH UNDER DEMOCRATIC MANAGEMENT. 35 
 
 From the above table we learn that out of the 150 
 metropolitan clubs affiliated to the Union, no less than 
 144 have sent in returns. 
 
 The population embraced by these institutions alone is 
 34,956. There are 240 provincial clubs affiliated to the 
 Union : of these 222 have sent in returns. 
 
 If to the population of the metropolitan clubs we add 
 that of the provincial clubs, we have a total of 80,597 ; 
 and over this great community the Club and Institute 
 Union exercises not a vague and shadowy, but a real and 
 more or less effective control.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 DRINK IN WORKMEN'S CLUBS. 
 
 THE sale of intoxicating drinks in workmen's clubs 
 has given rise to much discussion and adverse criticism. 
 At the outset it is necessary to admit that the founders 
 of the Club and Institute Union were opposed to the 
 sale of such articles in the clubs connected with the 
 institution. 
 
 The primary idea of the founders was to strike a 
 blow against the intemperance so prevalent among the 
 industrial and labouring classes. Some years before the 
 idea of the Club and Institute Union took shape, this 
 abuse, which so often made the workman's leisure a 
 curse to him instead of a blessing, had been troubling 
 the minds of humanitarians, and their cogitations had 
 worked out to something like the following result. 
 Workmen, in their leisure hours, require social inter- 
 course ; but they have few places where they may 
 meet for such a purpose, outside the public-house. 
 When in the public-house, the temptation to drink too 
 much is frequently beyond their powers of resistance. 
 The conclusion they arrived at being that it is im- 
 peratively necessary to provide opportunities for such 
 social intercourse in safe places, and under conditions 
 offering no temptations. Clubs and institutes should be 
 formed, where men could meet together and talk or 
 amuse themselves in various ways, but where no stimu- 
 lants should be provided. 
 
 Such an institution, if in the country, would commonly 
 be under the direct supervision and patronage of the
 
 DEINK IN WORKMEN'S CLUBS. 37 
 
 clergyman or squire of the district ; if in a town, they 
 would usually owe their existence and prosperity to 
 some rich or influential citizen. As a rule, they would 
 not be self-managed and self-supporting. 
 
 Now the Club and Institute Union, although it was 
 one of the results of this impulse, was the essence of 
 a movement which implied a far larger scope and 
 sphere of action. It is alluded to by its promoters as 
 a national movement, and one of the first requisites of a 
 national movement is that it should be capable of stand- 
 ing on its own legs. It cannot owe its existence to 
 outside support. It must stand or fall on its own 
 merits. Then came the plain, blunt question which 
 had to be answered from the teaching of experience, 
 Can a workmen's club exist as a self-managed and 
 self-supporting institution without the sale of stimu- 
 lants ? Experience seems to teach us that, as a rule, it 
 cannot. 
 
 For several years the Club and Institute Union made 
 a bold stand, and the same experience was repeated 
 year after year. Workmen did not care to join temper- 
 ance clubs, or, if they joined them, withdrew their 
 membership when the novelty of the thing had worn 
 off. Thus, monthly payments could not be relied upon, 
 and the club either collapsed or else owed its existence 
 to outside support. 
 
 The late Lord Lyttleton, who became president of 
 the Union in 1871, was one of the first to recognise the 
 necessity of making some change if the Club and In- 
 stitute Union was ever to develop in a manner worthy 
 of the labour and thought spent upon it. 
 
 Restrictions against the sale of stimulants were there- 
 fore removed, and the club movement assumed a 
 solidarity and vitality of its own. 
 
 Precautions, however, against the abuse of this new 
 privilege, were not omitted. 
 
 The ninth Annual Report for the year 1870-71 has the
 
 38 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 following interesting passage referring to this matter 
 under the heading " Public-House Clubs " : 
 
 " Circumstances have recently occurred, in connection 
 with this movement, which have attracted considerable 
 attention and discussion. There appears to be a desire, on 
 the part of persons who have lost, or who have been unable 
 to obtain, public-house licences, to open premises under the 
 designation of " Workmen's Clubs," where, with more or 
 less of the usual club arrangements and restrictions, the 
 sale of refreshments may be carried on for the benefit of 
 the proprietor. In one such case the club was affiliated to 
 this society, but the Council, on finding that the manage- 
 ment was very unsatisfactory, and such as to bring the 
 Club Movement into disrepute, passed a resolution to the 
 effect that the name of the club should be removed from 
 their list of institutions, and the fact was communicated 
 to the newspapers. The Council have been assured by the 
 Revenue authorities that there is no desire on their part 
 to interfere with the sale of exciseable articles in bona-fide 
 clubs where those refreshments are sold for the benefit 
 of members only, and under such regulations as shall 
 prevent the abuse of that privilege, or the creation of a 
 fictitious membership." 
 
 The tenth Annual Report contains the following 
 explicit statement in connection with the matter : 
 
 " Several circumstances having occurred last year which 
 rendered it doubtful whether clubs supplying exciseable 
 liquors to the members might not thereby render them- 
 selves liable to prosecution for the infringement of the 
 Excise Laws, the subject was discussed at the Annual 
 Conference of Delegates from Workmen's Clubs [on the 
 20th July 1892. This resulted in the adoption of a resolu- 
 tion, and effect was given to the recommendation therein 
 contained by a letter received shortly afterwards from the 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer, in which it was stated that 
 clubs can avoid liability by adopting such rules as the 
 Board of Inland Revenue might consider necessary,
 
 DRINK IN WORKMEN'S CLUBS. 39 
 
 and by forwarding a copy of the same to the Board for 
 their information. This suggestion has accordingly been 
 followed by clubs which it affects, and much uncertainty 
 and difficulty thereby avoided." 
 
 These extracts bring out two important points 
 Firstly, that the Club and Institute Union itself exer- 
 cises a careful supervision over the clubs connected with 
 it ; secondly, that no club affiliated to the Union is per- 
 mitted to sell intoxicants unless subject to the conditions 
 of the Board of Inland Revenue. 
 
 The following extract from the fourteenth Annual 
 Report (1875-76) brings both points into prominence : 
 
 " We are aware that similar places ( i.e. sham clubs ) are 
 in existence in several towns, and we may specially men- 
 tion Nottingham, where one of these sham institutions 
 sought affiliation with our Society, and another actually 
 obtained admission into union, before we had discovered 
 its true character. In both cases there was reason to 
 apprehend prosecution, and the 'managers' therefore 
 sought, no doubt, to connect themselves with our Society 
 as a sort of guarantee of respectability. In the one case 
 we at once discovered the facts (a member of our Council 
 having visited Nottingham expressly for that purpose), 
 and the application was refused. 
 
 " In the other the previous order of affiliation was re- 
 scinded as soon as the real state of the case became known 
 to us. 
 
 " No club supplying exciseable liquors to its members is 
 admitted by our Society into union unless it adopts the 
 regulation relating to the sale of those articles which 
 was drawn up by the Council and approved by the Board 
 of Inland Revenue ; and every such club obtains from 
 the latter formal sanction to the sale of these refresh- 
 ments, under the conditions stated in the rule just 
 referred to." 
 
 The seventeenth Annual Report for the year 1878-79 
 contains a reprint of a long article in the Standard which
 
 40 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 appeared, we presume, about June 1878. There had been 
 some further discussion between the Board of Inland 
 Revenue and the Union Council, and the results of their 
 deliberations bring out another point in connection with 
 the precautions taken against abuses in the matter^of 
 drink. So far the Council had adopted a sensible and 
 firm policy in the matter. They exercise [the power of 
 refusing or rescinding affiliation ; they keep an eye upon 
 the management and conduct of affiliated clubs, and step 
 in authoritatively when abuses come under their notice. 
 Also they compel all clubs in union to submit to the con- 
 ditions of the Board of Inland Revenue if they wish to sell 
 exciseable articles to their members, and no proprietary 
 club is allotted the privilege of affiliation. 
 
 It was, however, necessary that the attitude of the 
 Club and Institute Union in this matter should be the 
 attitude assumed by the clubs affiliated to the Union. 
 
 The matter at issue between the Board of Inland 
 Revenue and the Council throws light upon this last 
 point the attitude assumed by the clubs themselves 
 in this important question. 
 
 We quote the following passage from the article in the 
 Standard alluded to above : 
 
 " The Board of Inland Revenue drew attention to the 
 fact that in applications for permission to sell exciseable 
 liquors in working men's clubs without licence, the 
 right of members to introduce non-members was almost 
 always included. It was suggested that this privilege 
 might be so applied as to enable large sections of working 
 men to evade the existing restrictions upon the liquor 
 traffic, and to obtain liquor during the hours when the 
 public-houses are closed, without the guarantee for 
 orderliness implied in the fact of membership. It was 
 pointed out that working men members might be some- 
 what lax about introducing strangers of unknown ante- 
 cedents a danger against which there is practically no 
 need to guard in the clubs frequented by the upper
 
 DRINK IN WORKMEN'S CLUBS. 41 
 
 classes. The opinion of the Council of the Working 
 Men's Club and Institute Union was therefore solicited 
 by the Commissioners of Inland Kevenue as to the 
 possibility and expediency of insisting upon some 're- 
 strictive regulations.' The Council at once replied that 
 the importance of enforcing some such regulations was 
 recognised, and a careful inquiry would be instituted." 
 
 So much, then, for the point at issue. The Commis- 
 sioners were acting perfectly legitimately in drawing 
 attention to the matter ; and it remains to be seen in 
 what spirit they were met by the Council ; and lastly, to 
 how great an extent the Council was capable of influencing 
 the clubs. 
 
 The article proceeds : 
 
 " The Union, therefore, proposed to enforce new con- 
 ditions of affiliation, which the Board of Inland Revenue 
 have pronounced satisfactory. In return, it was asked 
 and conceded, that the affiliation should be accepted as 
 a primd facie guarantee for the genuineness of a particular 
 club, and that the permission demanded for the consump- 
 tion of exciseable articles by non-members on the occasion 
 of debates, concerts, and lectures should not be refused. 
 The final answer of the Board of Inland Revenue was, 
 that ' until the operation of the new rules be shown to 
 be insufficient for the safety of the Revenue' the 
 Board will not press for any further restrictions. The 
 working of this reasonable compromise now depends, in 
 the first place, on the extent to which the Working 
 Men's Clubs in general adopt the terms of affiliation 
 proposed by the Council ; and, in the next place, upon 
 the good faith with which the affiliated institutions give 
 effect to an honourable understanding." In a circular 
 address to the clubs the Council of the Union say : " In 
 order to secure this immunity from interference, the 
 Council have pledged themselves to urge upon the clubs 
 the adoption of certain rules, which are as follows : 
 'Should any visitor to this club, not being a member
 
 42 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 of the same, pay for refreshments served to him, the 
 member introducing such visitor shall be expelled from 
 membership on the fact being duly proved, and it shall be 
 the duty of any officer or member of the club becoming 
 aware of such breach of the rules to report it at once to 
 the President, Secretary, or Committee. The above rule 
 shall be permanently exhibited in as prominent a man- 
 ner as possible at the entrance of the club-house, and in 
 any room where refreshments are served.' " 
 
 All clubs affiliated to the Union adopt the rule that 
 no visitor that is, one who is not an affiliated member of 
 the Club and Institute Union may pay for refreshments ; 
 if he is introduced into the club by a friend, any refresh- 
 ment he may require must be paid for by his friend, and 
 infringement of this rule renders the member liable to 
 expulsion. 
 
 But in addition to these regulations for protecting the 
 Revenue, most clubs have bye-laws of their own. Most, 
 for instance, will not allow a visitor inside the bar at all, 
 and even a member from an affiliated club will be com- 
 pelled to show his book, containing his Associate Card 
 and Monthly Pass Card, before he is admitted to the bar, 
 though this last precaution may be omitted if the person 
 in question happens to be a well-known member of the 
 Club and Institute Union. In any case, however, he may 
 be called upon by any member to produce his book and 
 show his Monthly Pass Card. 
 
 But to all this it may be objected that, so far, no 
 guarantee is offered against members of a club abusing 
 their privileges by drinking too much themselves ; that 
 measures which protect the Revenue do not in any degree 
 prevent drunkenness in a club on the part of its own 
 members. This, of course, is perfectly true, but here 
 again precautions are not wanting. The clubs themselves 
 have bye-laws affecting the matter, and a member who 
 becomes intoxicated, or in any way disgraces himself in 
 the club, at once renders himself liable to suspension or
 
 DRINK IN WORKMEN'S CLUBS. 43 
 
 expulsion. Again, if an individual club is lax in this 
 respect, and permits drunkenness and misconduct within 
 its walls, their evil report will, sooner or later, reach the 
 ears of the authorities at the Club and Institute Union, 
 and the club in question will be rendered liable to expul- 
 sion from the Union. There is no club in the Union that 
 is not keenly alive to this, and the result is that the 
 attitude of the clubs as a whole is one that backs the 
 efforts of the Council in their attempt to put down 
 abuses of this nature. 
 
 Yet one hears many complaints. Not an uncommon 
 one is based upon the fact that certain clubs affiliated 
 to the Union are "tied to brewers." That is to say, 
 certain clubs are, in the first instance, started by the 
 help of loans borrowed from brewers, and borrowed on 
 the condition that the club in question purchases its 
 liquors from the company that has supplied the loan. 
 The main evils resulting from such an arrangement are, 
 that the club may be compelled to pay a high rate of 
 interest, and has little means of protection in case of 
 being supplied with liquors of an inferior quality. 
 Nevertheless, the phrase, "tied to the brewers," seems 
 to be an evil-sounding one, and much capital may be 
 made out of it by opponents who wish to damage the 
 movement in the eyes of an uninitiated public. The 
 system, however, is an unsatisfactory one, and has been 
 recognised as such by the Council of the Union; nor 
 will the position of our critics be strengthened, when 
 we inform them that a regulation is now in force that 
 no club so "tied to a brewer" will be admitted as a 
 member of the Union. It remains for them to make the 
 most of the fact that the rule has no retrospective force. 
 
 But the question still remains, To how great an 
 extent is excessive drinking prevalent ? This, of course, 
 is a very difficult question to answer. There are, how- 
 ever, means at our disposal which may help us to a 
 solution.
 
 44 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 It would, of course, be folly to assert that drunkenness 
 is unknown in these institutions. Occasionally instances 
 of intemperance do occur, and such cases are usually 
 dealt with by the committee of the club, and the offender 
 punished, either by suspension or expulsion. Such cases 
 are, however, rare, and the real danger does not lie in 
 the fact of an occasional lapse of this sort so much as 
 in the facilities for constant "soaking" which club-life 
 seems to offer. A man, for instance, may sit at the bar 
 for a couple of hours, and drink a great deal more than 
 he ought, without positively becoming drunk, or be- 
 having in an unseemly manner, or creating a disturb- 
 ance. In this case the authorities in the club can take 
 no official cognisance of his proceedings ; his behaviour- 
 may be, all the while, decorous even to austerity, but 
 at the same time he is injuring his health, and im- 
 poverishing his wife and children. 
 
 That this is an evil which actually exists, we are the 
 last to deny, at the same time we affirm that it is an 
 evil which is greatly exaggerated : there are many clubs 
 in the Union where it is practically non-existent, and in 
 this matter it is interesting to notice that the people 
 who know least about these clubs are the people who 
 have the blackest and most definite charges to bring 
 against them. 
 
 An enterprising and thoroughly well-meaning person 
 has perhaps heard about the Club Movement, and wishes 
 to see one of these clubs. He prevails upon a friend who 
 is a member of one of them, to take him round. 
 
 He is shown over the premises, and what does he see ? 
 
 Workmen everywhere unshaven workmen, workmen 
 with the marks of their toil yet upon them, workmen 
 with mugs of beer at their elbows, workmen playing 
 billiards, workmen playing cards (not for money, as 
 that is against rules), workmen reading newspapers or 
 chatting at the bar, workmen drinking at the bar. Also 
 his nose is assailed with the odour of strong tobacco
 
 DRINK IN WORKMEN'S CLUBS. 45 
 
 which is being burnt in the bowls of fifty or a hundred 
 short clay pipes. 
 
 The premises, too, are large, somewhat dusty, and not 
 very luxuriously furnished ; not squalid exactly, but to 
 say the least, homely. He has not, however, discovered 
 that the rent of the premises is probably 90 per annum, 
 possibly even 150, which may, perhaps, account for a 
 good deal. 
 
 He goes home with a jumbled impression left upon 
 his brain of beer jugs, billiard balls, clay pipes, unshaven 
 chins, and general cheerfulness. Moreover, he is quite 
 positive that he heard a word beginning with a D. 
 
 The next morning he is questioned about his great 
 adventure. " Were there many rows ? " Well, no, he 
 cannot remember any rows . " Many people drunk ? " 
 Can't say ; he did not come across any one drunk, but a 
 good many seemed to be drinking. Yet a week afterwards, 
 should the subject of Workmen's Clubs turn up in con- 
 versation, his ideas will have become the more decided as 
 they are divorced from the truth. " Oh, Workmen's Clubs, 
 I know all about them ; I was in one last week. Mere 
 drinking dens, I assure you !" And the subject is 
 dismissed. 
 
 Through such channels does information too frequently 
 run. In such a discussion as this, one piece of solid in- 
 formation carries much weight, and such a piece of 
 information we are fortunately able to lay before our 
 readers. The following figures have been obtained by 
 enquiries which have been prosecuted through all the 
 metropolitan clubs belonging to the Union during the 
 year 1894. 
 
 The average expenditure per year per member of 
 political clubs which supply exciseable articles, is sixty- 
 nine shillings and twopence with a fraction over, giving 
 us an average per week of one shilling and fourpence 
 farthing, or rather more than twopence per member per 
 night. The average of social clubs is somewhat less, and
 
 46 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 works out to one shilling and threepence halfpenny per 
 member per week. 
 
 It is, of course, easy to criticise these figures by calling 
 attention to the fact that all the members of a club do 
 not attend on a given night.* The effect of this criticism 
 is, however, considerably neutralized by two things : 
 firstly, that the average of twopence per member per 
 night includes everything supplied by members to 
 visitors who are not affiliated members of the Union ; 
 and, secondly, that in this same twopence is included 
 the purchase of mineral waters, tobacco, and in many 
 cases food, which is a very considerable proportion of the 
 whole expenditure. 
 
 Provincial clubs supply us with even a better record, 
 for in their case the average works out to tenpence half- 
 penny per member per week for social clubs, and eight- 
 pence per member per week for political clubs. 
 
 A somewhat modest expenditure, this, for drinking 
 dens ! 
 
 These figures supply us with a far more rational basis 
 of criticism than the occasional flying visits of enter- 
 prising and thoroughly well-meaning persons. The 
 matter, as we know, is a difficult one to investigate, but 
 the most rational way of setting to work is to start with 
 a cool and unbiassed mind and attach their proper 
 value to facts which have a significance that it is im- 
 possible for a fair-minded person to ignore. 
 
 The appended table, taken from the current Annual 
 Keport (1894), will be a useful supplement in this 
 context. 
 
 It should be noticed that the table refers to Bar 
 Keceipts, and not to the sums taken for the sale of 
 intoxicants only. 
 
 * The great bulk of members attend on Saturdays and Sundays, 
 often with their wives and friends. This amounts to almost the same 
 as the steady attendance of each member.
 
 DRINK m WORKMEN'S CLUBS. 
 
 47 
 
 TABLE SHOWING THE DISTRIBUTION OP BAR RECEIPTS 
 OVER THE MEMBERSHIP or THE 306 CLUBS WHICH 
 SUPPLY EXCISABLE ARTICLES, AND HAVE MADE 
 RETURNS OF THE AMOUNT THEREOF. 
 
 
 Number of 
 
 Total Bar Receipts. 
 
 Clubs. 
 
 Members. 
 
 Amount. 
 
 Average per 
 Member 
 per week. 
 
 Met^polit...);-';;; 
 
 p {IS? 1 ::: 
 
 80 
 50 
 50 
 126 
 
 20,676 
 11,102 
 10,646 
 30,550 
 
 73,308 
 37,036 
 18,390 
 71,087 
 
 Is. 4Jd. 
 Is. 3|d. 
 8d! 
 lOfd. 
 
 Totals 
 Percentage of total Clubs ) 
 making returns ) 
 
 306 
 83-6 
 
 72,974 
 90-5 
 
 199,821 
 
 Aver. Is. 0d. 
 
 We claim, then, that the charges brought against work- 
 men's clubs are grossly exaggerated, although, at the 
 same time, we would be the last to say that they are 
 absolutely groundless. Indeed, we have never heard of 
 anyone so foolish as to imagine that workmen's clubs 
 claim, in this respect, to stand on a higher moral platform 
 than other clubs. 
 
 To hope for perfection in such institutions as these is 
 manifestly absurd, but, at the same time, a serious 
 question is suggested. We have every right to know 
 whether all that might be done by so vast and powerful 
 an organisation as this is actually done to prevent abuses 
 of this nature. 
 
 We have seen that the Council of the Club and 
 Institute Union is possessed of great powers. It can 
 refuse affiliation to an ill-managed or, in any way, un- 
 satisfactory club. It can expel for mismanagement any 
 club already affiliated to the Union. It has the power 
 of selection in the first instance, and any mistakes in 
 selection may afterwards be rectified by expulsion. 
 Where, then, is there room for serious abuse to creep
 
 48 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 in? Theoretically there is no room. But in this case, 
 unfortunately, as in so many other cases, theory and 
 practice tell different tales. It would be an act of 
 unkindness to the Club and Institute Union itself to 
 attempt to conceal what, in the interests of all, should 
 be known. Although, as we have stated, the clubs be- 
 longing to this Institution are, for the most part, free 
 from grave abuse, yet it cannot be denied that there are 
 a' few clubs which merit condemnation. That such clubs 
 as these, as a rule, have short careers, and collapse 
 through their own mismanagement and nothing else, is 
 a fortunate circumstance, but one that reflects no parti- 
 cular credit upon anybody. But it is an abuse that they 
 should for any considerable time escape the vigilance of 
 the Council, and continue as members of an institution 
 which they are disgracing. 
 
 Most workmen's organisations are characterised by a 
 spirit of extreme leniency. Workmen, at anyrate in 
 London, and more especially East London, look upon 
 each other's shortcomings with a charity that only just 
 misses becoming levity. This, of course, is the manifesta- 
 tion of an impulse primarily good in itself, but which 
 admits of many abuses. Their impulse is always to give 
 everybody and everything " another chance," and when 
 this spirit, admirable as it is in many ways, more or less 
 controls their organisations, the result, too frequently, is 
 laxity in administration, and loose government gener- 
 ally. Thus it follows that clubs which should not belong 
 to the Union are not always expelled, but sometimes 
 allowed to run their own course in the hope that they 
 will sooner or later die of their own accord. That such 
 clubs generally do become extinct before long offers no 
 justification for the laxity of the controlling body. This 
 spirit, however, is more manifest in the clubs themselves. 
 Members are not expelled sufficiently often. The Com- 
 mittee stays its hand too long. A slight punishment 
 may lead to reform ; to be expelled from the club is a
 
 DRINK IN WORKMEN'S CLUBS. 49 
 
 serious thing ; the man loses his position in his own 
 society, and it will be difficult for him, if not impossible, 
 to join an affiliated club again. He may lose hope and go 
 to the bad ; therefore he is " given another chance," per- 
 haps only censured, or suspended for a short time. 
 
 But, what is perhaps more injurious than anything, 
 this ill - timed leniency renders it difficult for the 
 authorities at head-quarters to collect evidence respect- 
 ing such clubs. Their hands are tied and their pro- 
 ceedings paralysed. 
 
 A visitor from the Union experiences great difficulty 
 in getting at the facts, and in acquiring enough evidence 
 to justify action. This difficulty alone is usually enough 
 to account for the fact that they are slow to take action, 
 but at the same time it is only just to mention that it 
 is an ever-decreasing difficulty. In this matter, as in 
 so many others, things are improving. Clubs are more 
 ready to fill up and send in their returns, and these 
 returns contain every scrap of information that is, or 
 may be, of use in estimating the condition of particu- 
 lar clubs and of the movement in general. Such infor- 
 mation is largely the subject-matter of every Annual 
 Report. During the present year the clubs neglecting 
 to fill in the returns are the rare exceptions, whereas 
 in former years it was difficult to persuade even a 
 decent proportion of clubs to take the trouble to com- 
 ply with this very just and reasonable demand. 
 
 The danger, therefore, of any club escaping the 
 scrutiny of the authorities is daily decreasing, for the 
 refusal to fill up the return may justly constitute an 
 a priori ground of suspicion. 
 
 We may notice, again, an increasing amount of caution 
 exercised by the Union in the matter of admitting clubs 
 to the privilege of affiliation. No metropolitan club, 
 the members of which pay a subscription of less than 
 sixpence a month is admitted into Union. This is a 
 rough and ready test to start with, but at the same 
 D
 
 50 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 time it is one which has a significance of its own. 
 Sixpence a month is truly a small sum to pay for 
 the benefits and advantages of club life, and those who 
 grudge even that amount are naturally regarded as 
 unwilling to make any sacrifice in order to promote a 
 corporate concern. Then again, the smaller the sub- 
 scription, the more has the club to rely for its existence 
 upon the bar-takings, and is therefore less likely to be 
 an ornament to the Union. But this test, since it is a 
 rough and ready one, is, of course insufficient, and is sup- 
 plemented by very close and careful enquiries. When 
 any club makes application for affiliation, a visitor is 
 sent from the Union to make special personal enquiries 
 upon various important matters, and in order that no 
 doubt may be entertained as to the thoroughness of 
 this investigation, we append the set of questions which 
 are given to the visitor on a printed' form, and which 
 are to be filled in on the spot and finally submitted to 
 the inspection of the authorities at the Union : 
 
 REPORT of visit to the Club and Institute, 
 
 situate 
 on 189 by Mr. 
 
 INSTRUCTION TO VISITOR. 
 
 Please obtain and fill in as much information as possible 
 upon the following points. 
 
 I. Names of (a) President, (b) Secretary, 
 (c) Treasurer, (d) Steward, 
 
 (e) Trustees, 
 
 II. How often does Committee meet? 
 What evenings and hour? 
 
 III. Is a proper record of Committee Meetings kept in a Minute 
 Book? 
 
 IV. What Account Books are used ? 
 
 V. How often is (a) Cash Book balanced? 
 
 (6) Stock taken ? <c) Accounts audited and 
 
 balance sheet made out ? Has the Club a 
 
 banking A/c?
 
 DRINK IN WORKMEN'S CLUBS. 51 
 
 VI. Are the accounts kept upon system recommended by the 
 Union? If not, is the Secretary willing to 
 adopt it if someone is sent by the Union to instruct him ? 
 
 VII. Who orders goods, &c., on behalf of the Club? 
 
 VIII. How is Steward paid, i.e. by salary or otherwise ? 
 
 IX. Is any official or other person benefited directly or indirectly 
 by an increase in the profits arising from the supplying of refresh- 
 ments ? 
 
 X. Are visitors permitted to purchase or pay for anything in the 
 Club? 
 
 XI. Are the premises rented by the Club? 
 
 If so, at what rent? Under what conditions 
 
 can the tenancy be ended ? 
 
 XII. Is the landlord in any way connected with the Club ? 
 
 XIII. Are the premises owned by the Club? 
 
 If so, state how acquired, i.e. by gift or by purchase ? 
 If purchased, how was capital raised? 
 
 XIV. Is there a mortgage on the property ? If so, for what amount ? 
 Is it a private ordinary mortgage, or 
 is it held by a brewer or distiller? 
 
 // held by a brewer or distiller, is the Club free to purchase beer, 
 spirits, etc., from whom it pleases, without in any way affecting the 
 mortgage ? 
 
 XV. Is the Club one which, in your opinion, is bona fide, and 
 managed in a way creditable to those responsible for it, and do you 
 recommend it for admission to the Union ? 
 
 Make here any general remarks you may deem desirable, sign your 
 name at the end, and return the form to the Secretary of the Union. 
 
 The bearing of questions ix. x. xiv. upon the subject of 
 drink will be obvious to everybody. 
 
 In summarizing the matter we may safely say that 
 there seems to be little danger of drink being a real 
 stumbling-block in the way of the progress and pros- 
 perity of these institutions. We have seen that without 
 the sale of exciseable articles an organisation of this 
 sort would indubitably collapse, nor do we shrink from 
 making this statement in spite of the fact of its suggest- 
 ing the cheap witticism that it is an organisation kept 
 afloat by beer. Such a remark is suggested, but not
 
 52 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 justified. We have been at pains to explain the various 
 precautions which are adopted against abuse. We have 
 pointed out that, for the most part, they achieve their 
 end. Where there is weakness, we have given it no 
 quarter, but at the same time we have shown that where 
 such weakness exists, its tendency is to decrease. Lastly, 
 we would call attention to the fact that the machinery 
 designed to prevent all such abuse exists, and has no 
 need of being called into being. The administration is 
 complete ; it remains for the administrators to render it 
 in all cases effective. That they can, and will, do this 
 we have justification for believing.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 EDUCATIONAL WORK OF CLUBS. 
 
 " ABOUT that lecture on Sunday week, Mr Smith, do you 
 think people will like it 1 " 
 
 " Yes, sir. You see our chaps have had so many political 
 lectures that they want a bit of a change." 
 
 "So you think ' British Seamen ' will suit 1" 
 
 " Yes, sir. And I will see that it is properly posted up 
 in the club." 
 
 Sunday week has come, and my friend, who is to 
 deliver the lecture, and I are on our way to a small club 
 situated in one of the streets that lead into the Bethnal 
 Green Road. The lecture is announced to begin at 11.30, 
 but we know that, as a matter of fact, it will not start 
 till twelve o'clock at the earliest. Therefore when we 
 reach the club we have twenty minutes to spare, and are 
 shown up into the committee room. There are several 
 committee men chatting together, who, upon our entrance, 
 offer us seats, and make a few polite inquiries as to the 
 nature of the coming lecture. Some few are a trifle 
 surprised at the title they have seen posted up down- 
 stairs, for lectures on current politics and current topics 
 are more usual, and the notice has intimated that, this 
 morning, events are to be touched upon which happened 
 somewhere about the time of Queen Elizabeth. The 
 novelty of the subject, however, seems to elicit an 
 additional interest. 
 
 Twelve o'clock. 
 
 At five minutes past, the political secretary of the club 
 enters and invites us downstairs. We enter the hall and 
 
 53
 
 54 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 find rows of empty chairs, and wonder, at least my friend 
 wonders, what is going to happen. Then a great bell 
 is rung and about four people enter the room. Five 
 minutes elapse, and even I begin to entertain slight 
 qualms. 
 
 Then the Chairman enters, shakes hands with my 
 friend, and the two mount the platform. 
 
 Two more minutes pass, and about twenty-five seats 
 are occupied. 
 
 The bell rings again. 
 
 The Chairman introduces my friend to the audience 
 in a short speech, and the lecture begins. The bold 
 romantic deeds of men of old are being dealt upon, and 
 the room begins to fill. 
 
 The men like the lecture, and private messages are 
 sent round the club that there is something on worth 
 hearing. By half -past twelve there are about a hundred 
 workmen in the room, all listening in absolute silence 
 and attention : this number goes on increasing till the 
 end. 
 
 The lecturer has no rooted objection to the mugs 
 which certain of his audience have brought in with 
 them, and all goes smoothly. 
 
 The applause is appropriate and telling ; points of 
 special interest do not miss fire. An overbold though 
 successful adventure, a proper scorn of great odds, a 
 mighty utterance, or a chivalrous act of clemency, each 
 elicits, in turn, its appreciative round of " Hear, hear." 
 
 The audience is realising its affinity with such men 
 and such deeds. Great impulses and heroic traits, long 
 dormant, almost crushed out, perhaps, by the manifold 
 pettiness of modern civic life, assert themselves for the 
 moment, and carry men away in a fine enthusiasm. All 
 this is attested by the rapt, almost painful interest de- 
 picted on the upturned faces, and by the applause which 
 seems to come as a matter of course, and half-uncon- 
 sciously.
 
 EDUCATIONAL WORK OP CLUBS. 55 
 
 But the climax comes when, at the end of his discourse, 
 the lecturer reads Tennyson's Revenge. There is scarcely 
 a man in the room who has ever heard of the poem in 
 his life before, much less read it. 
 
 The experiment is a very interesting one. Here is a 
 poem, a national ballad, written so as to make its direct 
 appeal to the deepest sympathies and emotions of the 
 plain, ordinary Englishman. Whatever may be wrong 
 with a man, his capacity to appreciate this poem, at a 
 first hearing, implies that there is a good deal right with 
 him. It implies that those sympathies and emotions to 
 which this poem makes a direct appeal are untampered 
 with, and that is saying much. 
 
 The nerves of the audience have, by now, been tuned 
 to the proper pitch, and the poem is listened to in almost 
 breathless silence, save when a passage here and there 
 makes its irresistible appeal, and summons forth the 
 applause that cannot be restrained. 
 
 The applause, when it came, was delivered with such 
 striking unanimity, that one could not refrain from 
 noting such passages as elicited it, and drawing one's 
 own conclusions therefrom. 
 
 The first of these passages was that referring to the 
 sick men ashore : 
 
 " For we brought them all aboard, 
 
 And they blessed him in their pain, that they were not left to Spain, 
 To the thumb-screw and the stake, for the glory of the Lord." 
 
 The next was in the following stanza : 
 
 " And Sir Richard said again : ' We be all good English men, 
 Let us bang these dogs of Seville, the children of the devil, 
 For I never turned my back upon Don or devil yet.' " 
 
 Nor did the concluding lines of the eleventh stanza 
 escape : 
 
 " Sink me the ship, Master Gunner, sink her, split her in twain ! 
 Fall into the hands of God, not into the hands of Spain ! "
 
 56 THE CLUB-LAND OP THE TOILER. 
 
 When the end comes a perfect ovation breaks out, 
 such as accompanies the outlet of feeling long pent up. 
 Men at once begin to discuss it. They are mainly struck 
 by the fact that the ballad records an actual event. 
 That men, Englishmen, ever existed, equal to so great a 
 deed, is almost enough to stagger comprehension. The 
 enterprise was mad, hopeless; but all that is forgiven 
 by the greatness of the escapade, the terrible humour 
 of it. 
 
 One man cannot get over his regret at the absence of 
 Lord Thomas Howard. 
 
 "Why, if he had only been at the fight with his five 
 ships, we would have won ! " 
 
 We did not dissent, for we had the temerity to believe 
 that what he said was true. 
 
 Of the one hundred and fifty-five metropolitan clubs 
 in affiliation with the Union this year, eighty-one have 
 Sunday lectures ; many of these, however, have lectures 
 on week-days as well. 
 
 It is common amongst political clubs, where more 
 educational work is done, to arrange a lecture for every 
 alternate Sunday, and often for one week-day evening as 
 well. Others, again, have a lecture every Sunday morn- 
 ing, and, occasionally, one during the week. During 
 the summer months, however, when weather is fine, 
 clubs are less frequented, and the lectures are usually 
 less regular, and this applies to club-fixtures of all kinds 
 except excursions to places of interest in London and 
 the country, which are naturally very popular at this 
 time of year. 
 
 The majority of these lectures, as will have already 
 been inferred, are on questions of current politics, and 
 commonly relating to some aspect or other of the social 
 problem. 
 
 The attendance at such lectures is extremely variable, 
 much depending upon the state of the weather and the
 
 EDUCATIONAL WORK OF CLUBS. 57 
 
 reputation of the lecturer. It is almost impossible to 
 secure even a workable average, since all varieties of 
 number occur between fifteen and two hundred. The 
 latter number, again, will sometimes be exceeded if a 
 magic-lantern is used at an evening lecture. 
 
 But apart from lectures, classes are held at which 
 such subjects as shorthand, book-keeping, and even 
 French are taught. But the most popular and signifi- 
 cant of these is the Ambulance Class. 
 
 The thirty-first Annual Report for the year 1892-93 
 contains the following statement under the heading 
 " Ambulance Classes " : 
 
 "These useful classes have been in operation during 
 the year at an increasing number of clubs, and the 
 limited apparatus, diagrams, etc., of the Union have been 
 in great demand. Amongst the principal clubs which 
 have formed Ambulance Classes this year are the 
 Deptford Liberal Club, Romilly Club, Mildmay Radical 
 Club, North Camberwell Progressive Club, Bryanston 
 Club, Central Finsbury Radical Club. These clubs have 
 all passed and have obtained first-class certificates, whilst 
 the Boro' of Hackney Club has twice secured that 
 honour this year." 
 
 But besides lectures and classes we must not neglect to 
 estimate the importance of club libraries. Of the one 
 hundred and forty-four metropolitan clubs sending in 
 returns this year, no fewer than one hundred and nine 
 have libraries. In this estimate we exclude such clubs 
 as are supplied with books from the Union in lieu of a 
 library of their own. The sixty-seven political clubs 
 number between them 28,292 volumes, -with an average 
 per club of 422 volumes. The forty-two social clubs, 
 strange to say, have a far better record, the total number 
 of volumes in these clubs amounting to 36,124, giving per 
 club the remarkably good average of 860 volumes. 
 
 Statistics of this nature are, however, but little helpful 
 in judging of the educational value of club libraries.
 
 58 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 Like so many other things, these libraries suggest great 
 possibilities. All contain a fair percentage of standard 
 works, and it is interesting to note that among the 
 novels, which are more patronised than any other part 
 of the library, are usually to be found the works of 
 Dickens, George Eliot, and Kingsley. The "modern 
 novel " has not yet found its way hither. 
 
 Shakespeare usually figures on the shelves, but poetry, 
 as a rule, has little vogue. A good deal of space is 
 taken up by wonderful and out-of-date histories of 
 England and other odds and ends of literature, chosen 
 without much genius for selection. We were strangely 
 moved, upon one occasion, when we discovered a copy of 
 Cicero's Letters in an East-End Club. 
 
 Almost all books are regarded with reverence by the 
 club-man, nor does he seek to convert this reverence into 
 contempt by an undue familiarity. 
 
 The London workman, like the bulk of his countrymen, 
 does not read much beside the newspaper. 
 
 All this, however, is no argument against club libraries. 
 No one will deny that they are of some use. All we would 
 do is to warn our readers not to expect too much. After 
 a long and, often, exhausting day's work, it is not to be 
 wondered at that a man prefers a quiet chat with a 
 friend, or a game of billiards, to the perusal of a dry, and, 
 frequently, ill-printed book. 
 
 But apart from the efforts of individual clubs in the 
 direction of education, we must not omit to touch upon 
 the work done in this matter at the Club and Institute 
 Union itself. 
 
 The library at the Union has enjoyed a long tradition 
 of usefulness. It is the result of loving and unremitting 
 toil. The volumes that line its shelves are judiciously 
 selected, and much of the very best in literature and 
 research has found its way hither. 
 
 Of course it is not made use of to such an extent as it 
 should be, but the same very valid reason for comparative
 
 EDUCATIONAL WORK OP CLUBS. 59 
 
 neglect obtains here as in the case of the club libraries 
 and the free public libraries. But the hopes which in- 
 spired its creation and developed its growth, although 
 to an extent unfulfilled, are by no means unwarranted. 
 
 Moreover, the actual benefits conferred by the Club 
 Union library are apt to be overlooked. It is not in 
 London, where classes, technical schools, and free 
 Libraries abound that its sphere of usefulness is properly 
 emphasised. The following extract from the thirty-first 
 Annual Report will serve to illustrate this : 
 
 "The boxes of the Circulating Library have been 
 eagerly sought by the Provincial Clubs during the time 
 available. One hundred and twenty-eight of these 
 boxes were issued, each containing 34 volumes. From 
 the sheets sent with them it appears that, on an average, 
 each book is read about 2j times, so that the circulation 
 can safely be put down at more than 10,000. 
 
 In this connection it should be remembered that these 
 boxes are seldom sought for by the metropolitan clubs, 
 these having libraries of their own." 
 
 The Annual Report for 1891-92 contains the following 
 statement relating to a fresh development of educational 
 activity : 
 
 "A suggestion to form a Club Union Economic and 
 Discussion Society in connection with the Union has 
 been adopted. It is proposed that members of the society 
 should meet together periodically at some central place 
 in the new Union premises when completed for the 
 systematic discussion of economic and social questions 
 of interest to the community ; and that occasional lectures 
 by eminent men upon these subjects and upon educational 
 work generally, be 'arranged by the society. It is hoped 
 that the society will be the means of bringing into closer 
 contact with each other the many men in our clubs who 
 are keenlyjnterested in questions of this character, and 
 who, by regularly meeting together, will not only secure 
 a great deal of intellectual enjoyment for themselves, but
 
 60 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 will probably be the means of promoting similar societies 
 in the local clubs. It is proposed that the society be 
 under the management of the Educational Committee, 
 and that it shall form part of the educational work of the 
 Union in its new buildings. 
 
 " We now ask those members who are willing to join with 
 us in this work to at once send their names and addresses 
 and club to the Secretary of the Union, together with a 
 fee of sixpence, as a subscription for the first year, and so 
 soon as sufficient names have been enrolled an inaugural 
 meeting will be convened, at which some leading public 
 man will be invited to preside." 
 
 During the following yeai', however, when the removal 
 from 150 Holborn to the new offices in the Clerkenwell 
 Eoad took place, the educational work of the Union, like 
 much of its other work, was for a short time interrupted. 
 We read, for instance in the thirty-first Annual Report, 
 under the heading " Educational Work": 
 
 " This, as much as any branch of our work, has obviously 
 suffered by reason of the removal to new offices, the time 
 at which it is developed being just those months when the 
 staff was occupied in preparations for departure. Notably 
 the preparations for commencing a Club Union Economic 
 and Discussion Society had to be suspended. Steps are, 
 however, being taken to revive this, now that a room suit- 
 able for its purpose can be placed at its disposal. We 
 shall be glad if members interested in this development 
 will forward their names to the Secretary of the Union 
 prior to the inaugural meeting to be held in October." 
 
 The current Annual Report, however, published July 
 1894, shows that this temporary and unavoidable dis- 
 organisation has been amply atoned for. The education 
 work occupies here a prominent position. 
 
 We read under the heading " Educational Work," that 
 " in this important branch of the Union's work the estab- 
 lishment of the Central Buildings has helped to a great 
 revival."
 
 EDUCATIONAL WORK OF CLUBS. 61 
 
 The Report then goes on to show how, " apart from the 
 educational work accomplished by the Union, it has acted 
 as a means of communication* between the greater educa- 
 tional bodies and those workmen whom they desire to 
 reach. We have thus sought by every possible means to 
 call the attention of our members to the excellent system 
 of scholarships offered by the Technical Education Board 
 of the London County Council." Immediately after we 
 read, " We have also undertaken to distribute amongst 
 the London clubs a series of papers by the Recreative 
 Evening Schools Association, and have joined in a memo- 
 rial to the London School Board asking : 
 
 " Cl.) That all evening schools should be free, or prac- 
 tically free, by the return of fees to those who attend 
 regularly. 
 
 "(2-) That the classes should be much more largely 
 advertised in every district. 
 
 "(3.) That working people may be associated in the 
 management of these schools, and may in this capacity 
 have definite duties assigned to them (especially in visit- 
 ing absentees and arranging for special lectures and en- 
 tertainments), such as are undertaken by working-men 
 managers under the Nottingham School Board. 
 
 " (4.) That far more of the social and recreative element 
 may be introduced as a regular feature in connection with 
 these schools. 
 
 " (5.) And that in co-operation with the Technical Edu- 
 cation Board, or otherwise, far greater facilities may be 
 given for elementary technical instruction." 
 
 However we may criticise these five suggestions, we 
 cannot but hail the spirit which prompts them. The 
 second and third suggestions would, we imagine, invite 
 the hearty approval of thoughtful men. One result of 
 this appeal to the School Board has been that, in addi- 
 tion to the number of clubmen appointed through other 
 agencies, thirteen have been appointed school managers. 
 * The italics are our own.
 
 62 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 Under the heading " The English Citizen " we read : 
 
 " A course of lectures with this title was delivered by Mr 
 Graham Wallas at the Co-operative Wholesale Society's 
 rooms in Leman Street. The Union was able to supply 
 some forty or fifty class books for the use of this course 
 from its Keference Library." 
 
 To return to the work done at the Union itself, we read 
 that " the Library, owing to the provision of a reading- 
 room at the Central Club, and the connection of the 
 Union with other workmen's organisations, has been 
 much more extensively used this year than hitherto." 
 
 The Circulating Library, too, has progressed. It has re- 
 ceived considerable additions during the year, also " the 
 demand for the book boxes has been greater than ever. 
 One hundred and forty-six of these boxes were issued dur- 
 ing the year, representing a circulation (calculated from 
 the 'returns of readers ' sent with each box) of over 11,000." 
 
 Eleven free illustrated lectures were given at the 
 Central Hall on scientific and historical subjects dur- 
 ing December, January, February, and March, and were 
 appreciated by crowded and attentive audiences. We 
 read that "as an outcome of these the Union has been 
 able to arrange for a definite series of science lectures 
 at the clubs." The following clubs have been chosen for 
 these courses : The South Bermondsey, the Eleusis, the 
 Boro' of Hackney, and the Carlyle ; and they are to be 
 followed by a longer and complete course in the Union 
 Hall. 
 
 The Ambulance Class, as usual, has had a very successful 
 year, nor, since we seem to be launched upon a catalogue, 
 should we omit to mention the existence and, so far, 
 successful careers of the Elementary French Class, the 
 Shorthand Class, and the Instrumental Music Class. 
 
 Then we come to the Economic Class, the temporary 
 suspension of which we alluded to before. We read, how- 
 ever, in the current Report that " the Economic Class has 
 been fortunate in securing Dr J. Bonar, LL.D., as Presi-
 
 EDUCATIONAL WORK OF CLUBS. 63 
 
 dent for the year. On the advice of the President, given 
 in his inaugural address, the work of the session has been 
 confined to the reading and discussion of Professor 
 Marshall's 'Economics of Industry.' It is gratifying to 
 note that many of the most active men in the movement 
 have now joined this class." The annual examination has 
 attracted more this year than ever before; forty -nine 
 competed. 
 
 The temporary suspension of educational work has acted 
 as a real incentive to more vigorous effort. 
 
 The educational work organised at the Club arid 
 Institute Union, is, we think, capable of considerable 
 development. 
 
 Practically speaking, the machinery required for vari- 
 ous enterprises of usefulness in this direction is at hand ; 
 all that is wanted is the enthusiasm to vitalise it. This 
 was well brought out by Mr Hodgson Pratt, now for so 
 many years President of the Union, and to whom workmen 
 owe much more than many of them dream of. 
 
 On September 30, 1893, was held the annual meeting 
 at the Club Union Hall. Mr Pratt, as President, delivered 
 upon this occasion his annual speech to the assembled 
 delegates. This speech, excellent as it is all through, 
 contained certain passages which workmen, and more 
 especially club-men, should never forget. Referring to 
 the migration into the new premises, he said : " The first 
 topic which I have to bring before you is suggested by 
 the great event which has just taken place in this, the 
 thirty-first year, of the Club and Institute Union. I 
 refer, of course, to the fact that you have entered into 
 possession of your own handsome premises, providing as 
 they do for the accomplishment of many objects of great 
 public importance. This Union has from the outset cher- 
 ished a great ideal as to the purpose of its existence. It 
 was formed not only to show forth the value of workmen's 
 clubs and institutes as places of recreation and society, 
 and as an agency of social and political progress, and
 
 64 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 not only to give advice and aid in their organisation 
 arid maintenance. It was also intended to be a centre 
 where representatives of the clubs should meet for 
 conference and discussion, both with one another 
 and also with representatives of all movements con- 
 nected with the well-being of the people. It was 
 always our intention, indeed, that, in this interchange 
 of ideas, of experience, and of knowledge, there should 
 be no distinction whatever of class or occupation, trade 
 or profession. We desired that the Union should be a 
 great centre for receiving and diffusing knowledge on 
 all questions affecting the industrial population. We ac- 
 cordingly commenced at a very early period of our history 
 to organise conferences at Exeter Hall, in the hall of the 
 Society of Arts, at our own offices, and elsewhere. Very 
 competent men, some of them members of either House of 
 Parliament, leading Trade Unionists, Social and Political 
 .Reformers, literary men and others, attended those meet- 
 ings, because they believed that the Union afforded a plat- 
 form open to all alike for the free expression of ideas, a 
 common ground where men of the most opposite kinds of 
 training and experience, and of the most opposite beliefs, 
 might see each other eye to eye, and try to understand 
 each other on a footing of absolute independence, tolera- 
 tion, and fairplay. 
 
 " When in those days the proposal of a central hall and 
 model club was first brought forward, provision for such 
 conferences and lectures on a large and permanent scale, 
 under the auspices of the Union, was one of our main 
 objects; but we could not raise the necessary funds, arid 
 gradually this part of our work fell off, because of the 
 difficulty of finding adequate accommodation. 
 
 " I refer to this matter, not for the sake of historical 
 reminiscences, but in order that you may know how long 
 ago it was desired by members of the Union to accomplish 
 certain great purposes which you now possess the means 
 of carrying out effectively. I am sure that you will be
 
 EDUCATIONAL WORK OF CLUBS. 65 
 
 alive to your responsibilities, and that during many 
 years to come you and your successors will have an 
 opportunity of hearing lectures and addresses from 
 eminent thinkers, writers, statesmen, and leaders of 
 opinion in all branches of social and political science. 
 I think it highly important that the Union should 
 render this service to the community. One great and 
 exceptional merit of the Union is its many-sided and 
 impartial character. It belongs to no party or creed. It 
 is identified with no special and limited or sectional 
 purpose. On its platform men of various opinions can 
 meet on an equal footing. The Union can therefore 
 render an immense service in thus making it possible for 
 earnest men of all schools of thought to meet and listen 
 to each other without fear or favour." 
 
 This extract fairly illustrates our meaning when we 
 say that the machinery required for developing education 
 in various directions is ready and at hand. Mr Pratt 
 shows us in what directions we are to expect develop- 
 ments. It remains to be seen to how great an extent 
 members of the Club and Institute Union will avail 
 themselves of those advantages to gain which they have 
 toiled so hard and so long. 
 
 We see, then, that educational work of some sort or 
 other is carried on both in the clubs themselves, and at 
 the Club and Institute Union. Much of it may be open 
 to criticism, but we must always bear in mind, that 
 whatever the Club and Institute Union may be, the 
 clubs which belong to it must not be regarded as educa- 
 tional institutions, nor must their educational work, such 
 as it is, be judged from that point of view. A club is 
 primarily a place for relaxation and amusement, and 
 though this does not apply so forcibly to a Political Club 
 yet no one will regard even a Political Club as a class- 
 room. Any educational work that is done in a work- 
 man's club should rather be regarded with approbation 
 than censured for its shortcomings. It is, in a way, a
 
 66 THE CLUB-LAND OP THE TOILER. 
 
 work of supererogation, and, as such, invites the spirit of 
 approval rather than of criticism. 
 
 It seems to be in the nature of things that work of this 
 sort should be more successful at the Union itself than in 
 the clubs. There are many obvious reasons for this, but 
 the most potent cause is contained in the fact that the 
 Club and Institute Union is more in contact with the 
 cultivated world than its branches can hope to be. 
 Again, the officers and managers of the Union are the 
 best men chosen from the affiliated clubs ; the delegates 
 who meet there periodically are the pick of the local clubs. 
 The council and committees are formed from the same 
 sources. The elite of club-land is picked out to perform 
 the many necessary duties that must be carried on at 
 head-quarters. 
 
 It is natural, therefore, and right, that all organising 
 work should be accomplished here with greater ability 
 and success ; and this, of course, applies to the educa- 
 tional sphere of organisation. Again, such classes, 
 debates, lectures, or discussions as are held at the 
 premises in Clerkenwell will be attended only by the 
 more enterprising spirits of the metropolitan clubs. 
 The less ambitious will be content with what their own 
 club can afford them. Therefore we agree entirely with 
 Mr Hodgson Pratt in what we conceive would be his 
 propaganda here. We believe that the new premises of 
 the Union provide "for the accomplishment of many 
 objects of great public importance," that " the Union 
 should be a great centre for receiving and diffusing 
 knowledge on all questions affecting the industrial 
 population." We believe that a proper enthusiasm will 
 make this ideal possible of realisation. There seems to 
 be a legitimate scope for such objects here. 
 
 But in the clubs themselves the case, generally speak- 
 ing, is different. Some, indeed, have extensive premises 
 and unusual facilities for educational work, but this is 
 not the rule. Then again, the ordinary club-man, like
 
 EDUCATIONAL WORK OF CLUBS. G7 
 
 the ordinary everybody else, is not particularly devoted 
 to the cause of education. To begin with, his know- 
 ledge on general subjects is not extensive. Lectures on 
 English literature, science, history, or economics do not 
 profoundly interest him. He would rather not go to a 
 lecture. Very likely he would understand but little of 
 it, and what he understood he would quickly forget. 
 A lecture teaches him nothing, or next to nothing. 
 Usually, it does not even encourage him to read. He 
 has little time for reading, and, like most of his fellows, 
 less inclination. 
 
 It is indeed surprising, considering these circum- 
 stances, that such good audiences are forthcoming at 
 club lectures. 
 
 The main object of a lecturer in a workmen's club 
 should be not so much to instruct as to rouse. He 
 should always remember that his audience is not only 
 uninstructed but untrained. An isolated lecture on 
 history, literature, or science comes like a ray of light 
 in comparative darkness, and can do little or no good. 
 It has no context, and presents no relation to anything 
 in particular. Even continuous courses do very little 
 good. Theories and epitomes are useless or worse, 
 when the audience is incapable of criticising the theory 
 or of amplifying the epitome. 
 
 It should be further brought into consideration that 
 those who compose these audiences are adults many of 
 them old and grey-headed, most of them past the age 
 at which instruction is of paramount value. Unac- 
 customed to read from their youth up, it is almost 
 fatuous to suppose that a course or courses of lectures 
 will lead them, perhaps in middle life, to adopt a habit 
 so new and so uncongenial. 
 
 The chief services rendered to a club by lectures, 
 although considerable, are indirect. If they take the 
 place of entertainments, they save the club a vast 
 amount of expense, and the members from the enjoy-
 
 68 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 ment of much innocent vulgarity. Again, lectures give 
 the club a certain standing in the neighbourhood, and 
 serve as a guarantee of respectability, which, although 
 usually unnecessary, is considering the uncertainty of 
 most people's knowledge respecting these clubs none the 
 less useful. 
 
 Beneficial results such as these are alone sufficient to 
 make it desirable that lectures, and as many as possible, 
 should be delivered in clubs ; only let no one hope or 
 expect that the intellects of workmen will be much ex- 
 panded thereby. 
 
 But this brings us back to a point that was suggested 
 at the beginning of this chapter. It was there hinted 
 that there are other things to appeal to in a workman 
 besides his intellect. His intellect, as we know, is un- 
 trained, and his opportunity for reading as scant as 
 his inclination. His emotions also are untrained, or 
 rather untampered with. His taste has neither been 
 trained, nor interfered with. Here, at any rate, there 
 is virgin soil. As he knows little about books, so he 
 knows less about music and poetry. In both cases 
 alike there is lack of training, but the latter case is 
 consistent with the happy concomitant lack of per- 
 version or false training. That this is true there is, 
 fortunately, abundant evidence. Instances of this we 
 have noticed even at lectures. 
 
 If an average London workman prides himself upon 
 anything, it is upon two things : firstly, that he is superior 
 to the emotions of patriotism; secondly, that he is a 
 despiser of religion, or, as he thinks, superior to it. Yet 
 such a lecture as that described at the beginning of 
 this chapter, generally speaking, arouses far more 
 enthusiasm than the ordinary outpourings upon current 
 and local politics. 
 
 Quack politicians and tub-orators would do their best 
 to persuade these men that their views and sympathies 
 are such as would earn for them the title of ''Little
 
 EDUCATIONAL WORK OF CLUBS. 69 
 
 Englanders," and they actually do succeed in gulling 
 their hearers into that belief about themselves. They 
 appeal, however, to their intellects their untrained in- 
 tellectsonly, and the disease, if such it may be called, is 
 but skin deep. Their genuine emotions are unimpaired. 
 
 As to the second point their contempt for religion 
 an interesting comment was supplied by the lecture 
 described at the beginning of this chapter. In the course 
 of his address, the lecturer had occasion to allude to 
 certain acts of generosity and forbearance on the part 
 of Drake. He mentioned that he gave orders that no 
 women or children should be injured, and that the 
 churches should not be interfered with. Strange to 
 say, this order respecting the churches was greeted with 
 a round of applause ! 
 
 The reading of Tennyson's Revenge has already been 
 dwelt upon, but that is only a solitary instance of 
 what may frequently occur. Many a lecturer has wen 
 applause by quoting a passage of simplicity and grandeur, 
 whether of prose or poetry, during an address which 
 has, otherwise, roused no great enthusiasm. 
 
 But, as a rule, only occasional glimpses of what we 
 mean are discoverable at lectures. Their object, primarily, 
 is to instruct, and, for the most part, they miss their 
 purpose. We said just now that the workman knows 
 little or nothing of poetry and music ; it is neverthe- 
 less true that some of the best music, and some of the 
 best poetry appeals to him strongly. Simplicity and 
 grandeur are qualities in art which affect him most 
 profoundly, and both these qualities are characteristic 
 of some of the highest forms of art. Thus it is we find 
 that much of Shakespeare's poetry and much of Handel's 
 music is ; deeply appreciated by working-class audiences. 
 Recitations or readings of some of the simplest yet 
 greatest passages in our literature will keep such an 
 audience spell-bound. The simple and true is what 
 touches them, because, however untrained and unde-
 
 70 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 veloped their intellects may be, yet their emotional side 
 rings true, and is responsive to the best calls. 
 
 In this respect their weakness is their strength. 
 
 In this direction, we think, there is scope for much 
 enterprise. It would, indeed, be advisable that lectures 
 and genuine educational work should be carried on by 
 the Union in their new premises at Clerkenwell. There 
 is a real chance that such work may thrive effectively 
 at the head-quarters of this institution. In the clubs 
 themselves, the successful classes should be carried on, 
 but we cannot help thinking that great advantage would 
 be reaped by frequently substituting ballad concerts, 
 and good recitations or readings for the ordinary cut and 
 dried lecture. Under the present system there is little 
 or no chance of the lecture usurping the place of the 
 usual club entertainment, which, although perfectly 
 harmless, is usually terribly dull and stupid. Were, 
 however, such an alteration made, it is quite possible 
 that a revolution in these entertainments might be 
 gradually brought about. The taste of the workman 
 would, meantime, be educated, and his best and soundest 
 instincts aroused and developed.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 WHY CLUBS PAIL. 
 
 IT is sometimes rather difficult to keep an accurate 
 register of all the clubs belonging to the Club and 
 Institute Union. 
 
 Every member of the Union is supplied, on paying his 
 first subscription, with a book which contains a list 
 with addresses of all the clubs in the Union, both 
 metropolitan and provincial. This list, however, cannot 
 always be absolutely relied on. A club becomes affiliated 
 to the Union, and sometime after, perhaps, it fails, and 
 is never again heard of ; or again, more commonly, it 
 leaves the premises it was occupying and migrates to 
 another district, taking with it some of its furniture, 
 its library, and a certain bulk of its members. It may 
 start in its new locality with a new name. It is practi- 
 cally a new club. 
 
 But club migration is not always caused by failure. 
 Some migrate owing to their increased prosperity. 
 They find their present premises too small, or unsuited 
 to their needs, and, rather than build on to an unsatis- 
 factory edifice, they find it more convenient to start 
 again in a building better suited to their requirements. 
 
 But apart from such changes as these, we are still 
 confronted with the fact that clubs belonging to the 
 Union are occasionally dropping out and ceasing to 
 exist, though, on the other hand, new clubs come into 
 existence to take their place. In spite of the security 
 and permanence of so many clubs, there is always a
 
 72 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILKR. 
 
 fringe of failures clubs spring up and die out again ; not 
 even do their bar-takings avail to keep them going. 
 
 The twenty-ninth Annual Report for the year 1890-91 
 gives a list of twenty-one clubs which were removed from 
 the Union, but it is not quite clear in the case of all why 
 such removal took place. The only light thrown upon 
 the matter is derived from one of the opening sentences 
 of the Report, the significance of which is somewhat 
 vague : " Fifty-nine new clubs have been admitted to the 
 Union, and twenty-one have ceased to exist or been 
 removed from our list, leaving the present membership 
 of the Union, at 422 clubs." It is quite clear from page 
 34 of the same Report that twenty-one clubs have been 
 removed from the list, but we cannot tell whether all had 
 ceased to exist, or whether, in the case of some, another 
 cause led to their removal from the Union. 
 
 The Report for the following year, however, is much 
 more explicit. We learn from Appendix C of this 
 Report that no fewer than forty-seven clubs have been 
 removed from the list of members, and in each case the 
 cause of removal is stated. We are thus supplied with 
 information which materially assists an inquiry into the 
 causes of failure. 
 
 The following three causes are here operative in the 
 removal of clubs from the Union register Non-payment 
 of fee ; the fact of a club having been closed ; and 
 expulsion. 
 
 Non-payment of fee caused the removal of no fewer 
 than twenty-eight of these clubs. Eighteen were closed, 
 and one was expelled. 
 
 The thirty -first Annual Report is no less explicit on 
 this head. During the year 1892-93 twenty-four clubs 
 were removed from the list of members, and their re- 
 moval is due to practically the same causes. Fourteen 
 failed to pay their fee to the Union, eight were closed, 
 one was expelled, and one withdrew. 
 
 During 1893-94 seventeen clubs were removed from
 
 WHY CLUBS PAIL. 73 
 
 the list. Two causes only were operative in their 
 removal this year.* Twelve were closed, and four failed 
 to pay their fee. 
 
 Omitting from our calculations the year 1890-91, 
 when the causes of removal were not stated, we find 
 that, during the three following years, no less than 
 eighty-eight clubs have been struck off the Union lists, 
 and that out of these eighty-eight, thirty-eight have 
 collapsed. " Non-payment " of fee is, however, the most 
 usual cause of removal, forty-six clubs forfeiting member- 
 ship by refusal to comply with this necessary condition. 
 
 We know, then, that thirty-eight clubs belonging to 
 the Union failed during thi-ee years. It is probable 
 that more met with a similar fate. " Non-payment " of 
 fee usually points to financial embarrassment, and 
 financial embarrassment usually ends in collapse. There 
 are, of course, many causes of club failure, but there are 
 three which deserve special notice ; they are : 
 
 Firstly: Poverty of the district in which a club is 
 started. 
 
 Secondly: General slackness of members, and lack of 
 corporate spirit. 
 
 Thirdly : Misconduct of members. 
 
 It is worth while calling attention to the first of these 
 causes, because it is one of the most common sources of 
 failure. Enterprise frequently miscalculates its means, 
 and, with no special blame attaching to anybody, failure 
 is the result. 
 
 Unfortunately, however, such failures are not always 
 unaccompanied by acts of dishonesty. The means of 
 life are, generally speaking, rather precarious in the 
 case of a workman, and very much so in the case of the 
 poorer sort. A week's lack of employment may fre- 
 quently mean ruin unless ready money is to be found, 
 
 * In the case of one club the cause of removal is not stated.
 
 74 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 and the unlucky official to whom the club funds are 
 entrusted is sorely put to it in the time of need. His 
 intention is merely to quietly "borrow" the money, in 
 order to keep himself from beggary, and his children 
 from hunger. Luck is sure to turn soon, and then all 
 can be restored, and nothing known. But, somehow or 
 other, the opportunity for repayment is long in com- 
 ing, and meantime the club committee meets, and the 
 accounts are inspected. The money is demanded, but 
 cannot be found ; the club is ruined, and the man dis- 
 
 In judging of such cases as these, it is surely hard not 
 to temper condemnation with mercy. 
 
 The second cause that of slackness on the part of 
 members, and the general lack of the corporate spirit 
 is one which is so natural that one scarcely knows how 
 to condemn it without going too far. It is the old story 
 of the few good and the many indifferent, which seems 
 to apply with considerable force to all classes in society. 
 
 The main difference is that where one class in society 
 is already handicapped by poverty and the struggle for 
 existence, the unkind laws of life make such indifference 
 and slackness more telling in their results, while, on the 
 other hand, the efforts of the best tend to be proportion- 
 ately cancelled in their effects. This, no doubt, is a very 
 unjust dispensation, yet it has to be faced. 
 
 It is on this account that the secretaries of Trades' 
 Unions, and the secretaries of clubs in London, and of 
 other workmen's organisations, are always complaining 
 of the lack of support that they get from the members 
 of such organisations. The whole burden of responsi- 
 bility is thrown too much upon the officials and a few 
 self-denying individuals who give up time and energy 
 for the benefit of their fellows. Plenty of object-lessons 
 in illustrations of this are offered by the clubs them- 
 selves. Most members of clubs, for instance, would agree
 
 WHY CLUBS FAIL. 75 
 
 with the theory that it is useful, from many points 
 of view, that lectures should be given in clubs. 
 Acting on this assumption, the secretary engages the 
 services of a lecturer who, perhaps, has spent time and 
 trouble in preparation for the event, and may have had 
 to travel many miles to fulfil his engagement. It 
 frequently happens that he finds a paltry audience of 
 twenty or thirty people ; it occasionally happens that no 
 audience at all is forthcoming, although plenty of members 
 are actually in the club at the time ; and he returns home 
 angry and disappointed, vowing vengeance against work- 
 men's clubs in general and this club in particular. The 
 probable result is that his services are lost forever, so 
 far as the Club Movement is concerned, and his wrath 
 may even urge him to relate his grievance in a leading 
 newspaper. But who cares ? and this is the most 
 unfortunate part of the whole thing not the ordinary 
 member ; he does not care an egg so long as his next 
 Saturday entertainment is secure, or he can lay his hand 
 on his favourite newspaper, or secure a corner by the fire 
 at a game of whist ! The people who care are the un- 
 fortunate secretary, the president of the club, and a few 
 others who have the interest of the club, and the club- 
 movement, at heart. These are the men who, by their 
 energy and intelligence, are largely instrumental in 
 keeping the club together, and who preserve it from a 
 general slackness of management and looseness of ad- 
 ministration which would ruin it in six months. Nor 
 are such men to be blamed if they see fit to transfer their 
 abilities to another club where they may be more appre- 
 ciated, or if they dissociate themselves from club-land 
 altogether. 
 
 There is little doubt that instances of a like spirit of in- 
 difference will be found in other workmen's organisations. 
 The mass not only shirks responsibility, but often refuses 
 to be moved by the results of its indifference. 
 
 With respect to the third cause, it is somewhat of a
 
 76 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 relief to consider that a club can be destroyed as well as 
 partially supported by the sale of intoxicants. If a club 
 takes to bad ways in this respect, as well as in others, 
 the usual result is collapse. If an element of insub- 
 ordination or rowdyism gets the upper hand in a club 
 the seeds of decay are inevitably sown. The growth of 
 disease is obvious and easily traced. The club soon 
 becomes a bye-word in the neighbourhood. This means 
 that any new members who join are drawn from the 
 baser sort, while the better members are fain to seek 
 refuge in a club more suited to their taste. This is 
 tantamount to the withdrawal of administrative ability. 
 Educational work has no chance, money is lavished upon 
 entertainments, accounts are neglected or badly kept. 
 Peculation may occur, and, sooner or later, financial ruin 
 ensues. In such cases it is probable that " non-payment 
 of fee " will have severed its connection with the Union 
 before its final collapse takes place, if it has meantime 
 escaped the extreme measure of expulsion. 
 
 The failure of clubs has sometimes been used as an 
 indictment against the Club Movement, which has 
 included the Club and Institute Union. This, however, 
 should not be pressed too far. Of the three causes of 
 failure we drew attention to, the first is by far the most 
 common, and failures such as these are frequently in no 
 way connected with the Club and Institute Union. A 
 club, for instance, that is started in a very poor neigh- 
 bourhood, frequently dies before it has found its footing, 
 and there are two very practical reasons why such clubs 
 often fail to obtain the privilege of affiliation to the 
 Union. In the first place, they are frequently compelled 
 to resort to the brewers for a loan, and this transaction 
 would render them ineligible for membership ; and, 
 secondly, the monthly subscription of each member must 
 amount to sixpence at least, or the club will apply in vain 
 for afiiliation. Again, the increased severity of scrutiny, 
 imposed by the authorities of the Union, renders it more
 
 WHY CLUBS FAIL. 77 
 
 than ever a matter of difficulty for a club, whose position 
 is financially insecure, to obtain membership. Many 
 such clubs, therefore, that spring up and die are in no wise 
 connected with the Club and Institute Union, and are 
 therefore beyond the scope of our inquiry. During 
 two years (1891-1893) we have pointed out that only 
 twenty-six clubs belonging to the Union are known to 
 have failed. We hinted that others may have collapsed 
 after having been struck from the list of members, but 
 with them we are not directly concerned. The failure of 
 twenty-six clubs in two years is not a matter for very 
 great concern, especially when we remember what 
 difficulties threaten the existence of poor men's clubs 
 which are self-supporting, and when we call to mind that 
 the total membership of the Union at that time consisted 
 of about 400 clubs. 
 
 As to the other two causes which were adverted to in 
 this context, they are simply typical weaknesses to which 
 any organisation is liable in some form or another ; nor 
 should it be a matter of special comment if inherent 
 weaknesses occasionally prevail and bring about their 
 natural results, especially when, as has been shown, such 
 results are essentially of a purging nature. It is well 
 that a club, or any branch of any institution, that has a 
 fatal disease, should, thanks to its own deficiencies, cease 
 to exist ; the spread of contamination is thereby avoided, 
 and the organisation as a whole is benefited rather than 
 injured. 
 
 That such cases of failure are comparatively rare in the 
 case of the Club and Institute Union is a matter for 
 sincere congratulations ; that such weakness, where it 
 develops, results in such consequences as we have shown, 
 is by no means an unfavourable comment upon the 
 methods of the organisation with which we are con- 
 cerned.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 AN HOUR AT A CLUB. 
 
 " BOOK, sir, please ! " then in an undertone" Is your 
 friend a member, sir ? " 
 
 " No ; but I want him to be shown over the club. Is 
 Mr Jones free 1 because, if so, he can take care of him." 
 
 " Yes, sir ; you'll find him in the library." 
 
 This colloquy takes place with the door-keeper at the 
 entrance of the club. 
 
 I have no power to take my friend, who belongs to no 
 club in the Union, into any club save my own, although, 
 as a member of the Union, I may enter any club myself 
 that is associated to that body.* He must be the guest 
 of some financial member of the club we propose to 
 inspect. 
 
 So we hurry through the bar, pass through the reading- 
 room, and enter the library, where we find Mr Jones 
 absorbed in accounts, for the post of Secretary to a large 
 club of perhaps 700 members is by no means a sinecure. 
 
 Can he spare us quarter of an hour ? 
 
 Yes, if we will let him finish this column. 
 
 We do not wait long. Mr Jones' fingers run up a 
 couple of columns, and his head appears to take no notice 
 of the matter at all. Calculation seems to ooze from the 
 finger-tips. His head might be composing an ode or 
 planning a ballooning excursion. 
 
 " Now, sir." 
 
 I introduce my friend, who has ceased to be my guest 
 
 * See chap. iii. pp. 28, " Associate Card."
 
 AN HOUR AT A CLUB. 79 
 
 on first entering the club. He is now under the protection 
 of Mr Jones, and we are ready to start on our tour of 
 inspection. 
 
 But we must stop a moment to examine the library. 
 It is large and well looked after. There a,re about 800 
 volumes on the shelves, which are behind glass, and the 
 cases are carefully locked, being opened only when books 
 are borrowed or replaced. 
 
 Mr Jones is always ready to show visitors over the 
 premises. This club, as he is explaining to my friend, 
 is one of the very few which were, in the first instance, 
 built as club-premises. The majority of workmen's clubs 
 were originally ordinary houses, sometimes warehouses, 
 which have been altered or enlarged to suit the require- 
 ments of the members, and, as a rule, entail the payment 
 of heavy i-ents to the owners. 
 
 This building, however, is the property of shareholders. 
 And the majority of shareholders are the members of 
 the club. As is to be expected, the accommodation is more 
 convenient and adequate in such a building. On the 
 ground-floor, for instance, are the library, the reading- 
 room, the bar, and the lavatories. The library and 
 reading-room are separate, whereas in many clubs one 
 room serves for both. The bar is placed in a large and 
 well-ventilated room, and the lavatories are admirably 
 suited to the requirements of a large club. 
 
 We leave the ground-floor and descend to the basement. 
 There is not much to be seen here save the coal stores and 
 skittle alley, so we remount the stairs, pass the entrance 
 to the bar, and proceed to the first floor. Here Mr Jones 
 shows us into the hall, which is already beginning to fill 
 for the entertainment. I secure a penny programme, and 
 our conductor gets one for himself and another for his 
 guest. The hall is large, well-lighted, and well- ventilated. 
 There are a couple of doors for members, and a couple of 
 possible exits for artistes at the stage end of the room. 
 
 Benches are arranged, and there is accommodation for
 
 80 THE CLUB-LAND OP THE TOILER. 
 
 about 500 people. There is a hose in working order at 
 the back of the stage, which can be made use of at any 
 moment in the event of fire. 
 
 The performance begins. The chairman bangs the 
 table with a little hammer, and announces that " Mr So- 
 and-so will now oblige with such-and-such." A flourish 
 is given on the piano, and a boyish-looking young man 
 steps upon the stage, with one hand upon his hip and the 
 other gracefully extended in the direction of the audience. 
 His appearance causes a round of applause. Indeed, he 
 is a wonderful object. He wears a white flannel coat, 
 and no waistcoat ; but he has a beautiful shirt-front 
 and a vast tie. There is a belt round his stomach, his 
 trousers are rather short, and tight round the hips and 
 ankles. There is a large red mark on each cheek. His 
 eyebrows are elaborate, but seem badly balanced ; the 
 wig is black and low upon the forehead. He takes a 
 couple of capers up and down the stage, and begins to 
 sing. Seated at the back of the room, it is a little difficult 
 to get at the gist of the song, but so far as we can gather, 
 its subject is based upon the difficulty of adjusting 
 relations between himself and the policeman. He and 
 the policeman take different points of view upon so 
 many questions, that an inherent incompatibility of 
 temper is suggested. The song, therefore, is very long. 
 Each point of difference occupies a whole verse, and each 
 verse has a chorus. 
 
 So soon as this effort is concluded we slip out and 
 continue our exploration of the premises. The second 
 floor is occupied by the billiard-room. This is a spacious 
 apartment and holds four billiard tables, all of which 
 are occupied. Over the fire-place stands a handsome 
 pier-glass, a trophy won by the club in one of the billiard 
 competitions between the clubs. The tables are in fairly 
 good order, one being especially well kept. 
 
 The play is on the whole good ; the games are keenly 
 contested by the players and narrowly watched by on-
 
 AN HOUR AT A CLUB. 81 
 
 lookers, while others are chatting together or waiting 
 until a table shall be left vacant. 
 
 We have not, however, seen everything yet. Another 
 flight of stairs brings us to the third floor. Here our 
 conductor shows us the committee-room. It is a small 
 business-like looking room with a dozen chairs and a 
 table covered with green baize. We pass through a 
 door on the left and find ourselves upon the flat roof of 
 the club. This is rather a novelty, and one of which Mr 
 Jones is rather proud. The club is a lofty building, and 
 a capital view is obtained of lamp-lit London. We are 
 in the vicinity of Great Eastern Street, and the roof on 
 which we are standing is almost as elevated as the tallest 
 of the great fabrics that line that thoroughfare. 
 
 This roof is made use of in the summer-time when the 
 usual downpour of rain has for the moment expended 
 itself. Its breezy heights are not much to the taste of 
 the London workmen at any other time of the year. 
 
 We have seen everything now, and descend to the 
 warmer regions of the bar. 
 
 But on the way down we are constrained to take 
 another peep at the entertainment. 
 
 A young lady, arrayed in gorgeous colours, has just 
 begun a rhythmical account of an afternoon she spent on 
 the river. She has, apparently, multitudes of admirers, 
 and endless methods of making them feel abashed. It 
 follows that the verses of the song are as endless as the 
 number of admirers, and this song, too, is a very long 
 one. But when, at last, she has finished, she is vocifer- 
 ously applauded, and compelled to " oblige " again. This 
 time she sings a sad, pathetic song, but it is shorter than 
 the other. 
 
 She is followed by two young fellows, one of whom is 
 that policeman's bugbear, and the other looks equally 
 intrepid. But the rdle is changed now, for they figure in 
 the more buoyant, though less bellicose, character of 
 dancers. They keep time very well with the music, and
 
 82 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 the effects of their accuracy are emphasised by a little 
 arrangement in the shoe which produces a crisp and 
 clanking sound. They wear straw hats, and the wigs are 
 discarded. 
 
 When the dance is over we slip out and make straight 
 for the bar. 
 
 Here we sit down, and Mr Jones procures a glass of 
 beer for my friend. As an affiliated member of the Union 
 I obtain a like luxury for myself, together with a cigar. 
 
 At the bar of this club no money may be paid over the 
 counter. The following system is adopted : 
 
 At a corner of the room there is a tiny ticket office. 
 Here you pay for what you want, and a ticket marked 
 with the amount you have paid is given you. On pre- 
 senting this at the bar you are served with what you 
 require. Many clubs adopt this system. It is one of 
 those slight, though useful, devices which tend, in their 
 way, to promote orderliness and method where it is most 
 required. 
 
 A neatly-dressed woman officiates at the bar. This is 
 not an uncommon practice. My friend asks how it 
 works, and is told that it answers in every way. The 
 bar itself is kept more cleanly ; neatness and order are 
 more apparent. Then, on the other hand, the conduct 
 of members is affected ; they are less boisterous and 
 noisy, they realise what is expected of them and act 
 accordingly. They are, as it were, being put to the test, 
 and are fully conscious of it. We have never come 
 across or heard of a case where this plan has not been a 
 success. This is another of those many devices which 
 have been carefully devised in the interests of quiet and 
 order. 
 
 The bar-room of this club, like that of so many others, 
 is something more than a mere bar-room. It is a large 
 apartment furnished with chairs and tables. There are 
 bagatelle boards and card-tables, and plenty of members 
 are trying their skill at both pursuits.
 
 AN HOUR AT A CLUB. 83 
 
 " What time do you close, Mr Jones ? " 
 
 "Everybody has to be out by twelve, as the place is 
 shut up then. Some clubs close earlier, at half-past 
 eleven. But most close at the same time as the public- 
 houses." 
 
 "Is there no regulation binding clubs to close at a 
 certain hour ? " 
 
 " None." 
 
 We bid the secretary good-night, and he returns to 
 the library and to his accounts. The quarter of an 
 hour we begged has extended to about sixty minutes.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 AMUSEMENTS. 
 
 WHEN we dealt with the educational work carried on by 
 the Club and Institute Union, we found it convenient to 
 deal separately with the work organised by the Union 
 and that which was carried on in the clubs themselves. 
 
 It will be convenient to make a like distinction in 
 dealing with club amusements. 
 
 If we glance through any of the Annual Reports we 
 shall find that a great deal of space is devoted to notices 
 concerning amusements. Perhaps the most important 
 items in this context will be found under the heading 
 " Saturday Visits," or, as some Reports have it, " The 
 Saturday Afternoon Visits." It would, however, be unfair 
 to regard these Saturday afternoon visits purely as amuse- 
 ments. Their object is to combine recreation and in- 
 struction, and to foster social intercourse as well. It is 
 a little difficult to know under which category to place 
 them. Since, however, in the Annual Reports they are 
 kept apart from the educational work, it is best to regard 
 them as falling under the head of Amusements. 
 
 The thirty-first Annual Report (1892-93) speaks of 
 " these pleasant afternoons " as "affording opportunities 
 to club-men to meet one another in joint search of re- 
 creation and instruction." 
 
 In the current Annual Report (1893-94) we read 
 "The Saturday afternoon visits, affording as they do 
 opportunities for acquiring useful information while 
 spending a pleasant afternoon, have been more numer- 
 ous and more largely attended this year than has ever 
 been the case before."
 
 AMUSEMENTS. 85 
 
 During 1892-93 about the usual number of such visits 
 was organised. There were two visits to Newgate, a 
 visit to "Venice" (Olympia), to the Tower Bridge, to 
 Horniman's Museum, and to the Houses of Parlia- 
 ment. For this visit nearly two hvmdred names were 
 received. 
 
 But the following year, as is stated by the Report, 
 many more were organised. Two visits were made to 
 Horniman's Museum ; the Houses of Parliament were 
 visited once, two hundred members being conducted 
 over the buildings. Two visits were made to the 
 training-ship Sliaftesbury. " The ever-popular trip," 
 says the Report, "to the training-ship Shaftesbury had 
 this year to be twice repeated, owing to the enormous 
 number of applications for tickets." 
 
 The visit to the Royal College of Surgeon's comes next. 
 On this occasion over one hundred and fifty members 
 attended, and listened " to Professor Stewart's charming 
 lecturettes," adds the Report. 
 
 The Tower Bridge was twice visited ; so was St Paul's 
 Cathedral and Lord Brassey's Museum in Park Lane. 
 "Some hundred and fifty club-men and their wives," 
 says the Report, " availed themselves of Lord Brassey's 
 invitation, on each occasion." 
 
 Visits, also, were made to the British Museum, the 
 Greenwich Museum and Painted Hall, the Charterhouse, 
 the Royal United Service Museum, the chief Fire Brigade 
 Station, and Westminster Abbey. 
 
 Further developments are to be looked for in this 
 direction. Under the heading "Visit to Antwerp" we 
 read : "Fired by the great success of these visits, the 
 Union has now in view a larger scheme for carrying out 
 a series of visits to the most interesting places on the 
 Continent. The first arranged is to take place in July, 
 Antwerp and other Belgian cities being the destination. 
 By the kindness of Mr Hodgson Pratt, we hope also to 
 be represented at the International Congress on Social
 
 86 THE CLUB-LAND OP THE TOILER. 
 
 and Economic Problems, which is to take place at Ant- 
 werp in August next." 
 
 It is sincerely to be hoped that energy and enterprize 
 such as this will meet with the success it deserves. The 
 Union is indeed rendering services of untold value to its 
 members by these methods which it employs of enlarging 
 the horizon and enriching the lives of so many toilers. 
 It is not, of course, to be hoped that the poorer amongst 
 them will ever find their way across the sea to Antwerp 
 or any other Continental town, but they will be put into 
 direct touch with many of their more lucky friends who 
 will thus have enlarged their experience. Club-life will 
 be made so much the richer through the enterprise of 
 these men ; new channels of interest will be opened, 
 and knowledge will be brought nearer home, and will be 
 more accessible. The visits organised to places of in- 
 terest in and about London have done much in this 
 direction, nor can any extension of this form of activity 
 fail to confer correspondingly increasing benefits. 
 
 The Union, however, is also responsible for organis- 
 ing what would come more directly under the head of 
 Amusements. 
 
 A Section of the Annual Reports is always devoted to 
 the subject of " Recreative Competitions." 
 
 We find that the favourite forms of recreation are 
 rowing, cricket,* shooting, angling, billiards, athletic 
 sports, t whist and cribbage. Annual contests in these 
 diversions are arranged, and prizes are distributed to the 
 winners, for which any club affiliated to the Union may 
 compete. 
 
 Nor, lastly, should we omit to mention the Annual 
 Concert and Ball, which is usually held in the Holborn 
 Town Hall ; and the Annual Dinner, which this year 
 
 * Note the following from the Current Annual Report 1893-94 
 " Rowing and Cricket Although prizes were offered, there were 
 not sufficient entries, and therefore no contests were held." 
 
 f No meeting is recorded for 1893-94.
 
 AMUSEMENTS. 87 
 
 (1894) was for the first time held in the new Hall belong- 
 ing to the Club and Institute Union. 
 
 It is worth noticing here how much can be done in 
 this way, and at how slight an expense. The Saturday 
 afternoon visits, for instance, perhaps the most useful 
 institution of all, frequently cost each visitor no more 
 than the few pence required for his journey. At most 
 it would be only necessary to add the slight outlay 
 required if he wished for refreshments. Sometimes, 
 however, still better fortune befalls the visitors. For 
 on the occasion of the second visit to St Paul's 
 Cathedral, we read in the current Annual Report : 
 " Canon Scott-Holland again placed himself at the ser- 
 vice of our members, and, at the conclusion of the tour 
 round the building, entertained them to tea in the 
 Chapter House." Kind hospitality such as this is by no 
 means uncommon. 
 
 Let us now glance at the amusements that are organised 
 by the clubs themselves. 
 
 Every club, or almost every club, has its billiard, 
 bagatelle, and card tables. For a game of billiards a 
 member would pay twopence or perhaps three-half- 
 pence ; this, and the little payments made for bagatelle 
 and cards, help to swell the resources of the club. 
 
 All these forms of diversion are very popular, and it is 
 a rare thing to find the billiard or bagatelle tables, more 
 especially the former, lacking occupants. 
 
 Betting on these pastimes is rigorously guarded against; 
 the most ambitious stake would be a glass of beer. 
 
 These games are carried on always with the most per- 
 fect quiet and good temper. We can recall a striking 
 incident in illustration of this. A billiard contest was 
 being fought out in a club in Shoreditch. The game 
 was keenly contested by each representative of the two 
 competing clubs. Towards the end of the encounter, when 
 it was anyone's game, a slight misunderstanding occurred, 
 due partly to the momentary carelessness of the marker.
 
 88 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 No one, however, seemed quite certain as to the rights of 
 the case, and in the discussion that followed bot parties 
 vied with each other in their anxiety to give way. And. 
 although this mischance was, as far as anything could be, 
 the cause which decided the issue of the game, no word of 
 complaint or disapproval was raised by the man who was 
 beaten nor by his friends. 
 
 It is a pity that more cannot be done by the clubs in 
 the way of athletic exercise. It is not, however, difficult 
 to see the obstacles which stand in the way. 
 
 Sundays excepted, most workmen are free only in 
 the evening and on Saturday afternoons. Many find it 
 impossible to avail themselves of even the one half- 
 holiday. We cannot, therefore, be surprised that clubs 
 find it difficult to organise and support cricket, rowing, 
 and football clubs. Some, indeed, have their cricket and 
 rowing teams, but they are practically the exceptions, 
 as it is seldom that Saturday matches or contests can be 
 arranged with anything like regularity. 
 
 In some clubs boxing and gymnastic exercises are 
 carried on, and it would be well if this form of recrea- 
 tion became much more common. The physique of the 
 ordinary London workman does not inspire one with awe. 
 He is not often in " good training." He smokes a great 
 deal, gets up early, and goes to bed late. He is not 
 a drunkard, but his wind and liver would be improved 
 if he drank less. It occasionally happens that his diet is 
 irregular, and he is not always too well protected against 
 the. wet and cold. His existence, moreover, is complicated 
 by the fact that he is living in a town where luxury and 
 pleasure-seeking are especially common. For thousands 
 of people West London is merely used as a pleasure 
 haunt ; for thousands of others East London is the home 
 of toil. There are, as it were, two Londons pleasure- 
 seeking London, and labouring London. The London 
 labourer, however, and here comes the rub, has caught 
 the infection from the pleasure-seeker. Entertainments,
 
 AMUSEMENTS. 89 
 
 shows, amusement in any form, are the dearest delights 
 of his heart ; he has 'the same restless craving for diver- 
 sion, and almost the same dread of ennui. He lias caught 
 the disease from the West Londoner, and it is not to be 
 wondered at, as it is everywhere in the air. 
 
 Perhaps this would not be a very serious thing were it 
 not for the fact that it is unwise for a person with 
 limited means to start too many cravings. If his 
 cravings cannot be satisfied he is miserable, if they are 
 satisfied he becomes impoverished. 
 
 This same infection makes him too much the victim 
 of the convenient labour-saving contrivances of London. 
 We do not allude here to the machinery to which he is 
 tied during his hours of labour, but such things as 
 tend to make his physical condition worse than it would 
 be otherwise. We will content ourselves with one 
 instance. 
 
 Now-a-days he cannot walk far, and will very fre- 
 quently take a tram or a 'bus to spare his legs the 
 trouble of trudging a ridiculously short distance. The 
 cheapening of tram-fares has, of course, done much to 
 deprive him of the most healthy form of exercise pos- 
 sible. One can hardly blame the London workman for 
 being, more or less, the victim of circumstances, and in 
 spite of all we have said, the fact that he is a workman at 
 once attaches to his existence a dignity which sets him 
 on a totally different platform from the mere pleasure- 
 seeker. All we would do here is to point out that his 
 physique is subjected to deteriorating influences, and 
 that anything which exerts a counteracting force should 
 be j_encouraged. It may, at first sight, seem somewhat 
 out of place to suggest physical exercise as a form of 
 recreation for a man who has been at work with his 
 hands all day. In many cases, of course, sheer muscular- 
 fatigue demands complete rest after labour, but in 
 thousands of cases, probably in the majority of cases, 
 weariness after work hours, where it exists, is due to
 
 90 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 monotony of toil rather than to any actual strain upon 
 the muscles. The man comes home from stuffy work- 
 shops and factories, jaded rather/than physically wearied, 
 exhausted rather than healthily tired. He has, likely 
 enough, been occupied with work that demands a mono- 
 tonous concentration, without necessarily increasing his 
 stock of muscle. 
 
 Such work as this, so different from the robust and 
 varied toil of the farm-hand who spends the whole day 
 in the open air, and makes more muscle than he wastes, 
 is, generally speaking, wholly bad in its results upon a 
 man's physique, and the deteriorating influences spoken 
 of above, which affect a London workman more than a 
 labourer in any other large town, tend to accelerate bad 
 results. 
 
 There seems to be little reason why gymnastic exer- 
 cises in clubs should not be developed to a very great 
 extent. We have seen that real, often insuperable 
 difficulties, interfere with rowing, cricket, and football, 
 but in the case of gymnastics and boxing it is far other- 
 wise. A cross-bar and boxing gloves and the slight 
 equipment required for such exercise, could be obtained 
 by most clubs, and half-an-hour's practice during the 
 evening could easily be indulged in by many young 
 club-men. 
 
 It is not likely that such a form of recreation would 
 be unpopular. We know very well that in most boys' 
 and youths' clubs, boxing, wrestling, and gymnastics 
 are extremely popular. Nor has the Londoner any in- 
 herent objection to developing his muscles, provided 
 his wind and digestion give him no particular trouble, 
 and before he has been victimised by the habits that 
 tend to make his life so unhealthy. 
 
 It occasionally happens in the summer time that 
 club members obtain a short release from the dust- 
 laden air of London by a Sunday outing. Convey- 
 ances can be hired at cheap rates for such a purpose,
 
 AMUSEMENTS. 91 
 
 or the local railway companies can be prevailed upon 
 to issue cheap tickets and reserve compartments if the 
 party be sufficiently numerous. 
 
 The club-man, too, has other methods of amusing 
 himself. In another chapter enough was given by way 
 of describing the variety entertainment. The ordinary 
 club concert attains to about the same average of ex- 
 cellence or lack of excellence, and the dramatic per- 
 formance is as a rule not more ambitious. The average 
 cost of these entertainments is twenty-five shillings per 
 show. This, more than anything else, will enable the 
 reader to judge of the merits of these performances. 
 But even this small sum is a great strain upon the 
 resources of a club, especially when such entertainments 
 are indulged in more than once a week. The penny 
 programmes cannot be relied upon to cover expenses, 
 since it is seldom that an audience of three hundred, 
 or anything like that number, is attracted upon these 
 occasions. Hence it follows that native talent is fre- 
 quently substituted for a paid company, and evenings 
 are often enlivened by songs and recitations from 
 members themselves. On such occasions as these, pro- 
 ceedings may be regulated by a chairman, and conducted 
 exactly in the same manner as an ordinary entertain- 
 ment with paid performers. 
 
 Perhaps about the happiest idea in the way of enter- 
 tainment is the children's party, which is organised in 
 very many clubs at about Christmas time. The wives 
 and children of members are invited to the club, which 
 is profusely decorated in Christmas fashion with holly, 
 evergreens, and wonderful designs in coloured paper. 
 Hundreds of children appear on these occasions, and if 
 there is not sufficient room for all on one night, two 
 parties, on separate evenings, will be arranged. The 
 hall is cleared for games, and very frequently the 
 proceedings are enlivened by magic lantern displays. 
 Refreshments, consisting of buns and ginger-beer, are
 
 92 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 given to the children, many of whom regard the club- 
 party as the most important day of the year. 
 
 The care and regularity with which these parties are 
 arranged and carried out, the thoroughness with which 
 everything is designed to attract and amuse the children, 
 are sufficient to attest their popularity, and are an in- 
 dication of the fact that the London workman has more 
 domestic tastes than he is usually credited with. En- 
 tertainments in clubs owe their popularity and success 
 largely to the fact that members can, and generally do, 
 bring their wives with them on these occasions ; even 
 evening lectures at clubs are not infrequently attended 
 by the wives of members as well as by the members 
 themselves. 
 
 This fact tempts us, in conclusion, to touch upon a 
 subject of considerable interest, and one which must be 
 taken into consideration, when any attempt is made to 
 measure the merits or demerits of club-life. The ques- 
 tion of club-life and home-life has frequently been 
 raised, not without good reason and sufficient justi- 
 fication. It has, however, been often dealt with in 
 an unfair way, and from a point of view which is not 
 justified under existing circumstances. Critics of the 
 movement have often made the complaint, that clubs are 
 the great stumbling-block in the way of the workman's 
 home-life. It is urged that the ideal workman, when he 
 has done his day's work, goes home and spends the 
 evening with his wife and family. This, no doubt, is 
 very true, but it should be remembered that the ideal 
 workman, like the ideal everything else, is a rare being, 
 possibly more rare still is the ideal wife and home. 
 Even a model-dwelling ceases to be as ideal as it is 
 sometimes supposed when it has to house a family of 
 eight or nine. Here, as always, we must take things as 
 we find them, and consider them from that point of 
 view. 
 
 Now so many things have been urged against clubs in
 
 AMUSEMENTS. V6 
 
 this matter that we will confine ourselves to stating what 
 may be said in their behalf. 
 
 It is quite true that the average London workman is 
 disinclined to spend his evenings at home. The reasons 
 for his disinclination are too obvious to need developing 
 here. It is sufficient to call attention to two things. 
 Firstly, if he remained at home, he would be adding one 
 to a small, crowded, and ill- ventilated room. Secondly, 
 by remaining at home, he would deprive himself of about 
 the only opportunity afforded him during the twenty- 
 four hours of quiet social intercourse with his friends. 
 That this is an unfortunate state of things we readily 
 admit. It is not, however, the fault of the workman, but 
 of the system. As usual, he is the victim of circumstances. 
 Since, then, the average workman is averse, and naturally 
 averse, to spending his evenings at home under any 
 circumstances, it seems rather unjust to make the clubs 
 responsible in this matter. More especially is this the 
 case when we remember that the alternative to the club 
 is the public-house. 
 
 When once we have brought ourselves to realise the 
 grave obstacles which render home-life difficult in the 
 case of the London workman, we shall be able to realise 
 how, in more ways than one, the club becomes consider- 
 ably more than a mere substitute. 
 
 If a man, for instance, is a member of a club, his wife 
 almost always knows where she may go to seek him if 
 she wants him. The club will be near his home, and he 
 will be easily reached. It is the commonest thing for 
 the wives of members to appear at the club-door, and 
 send a peremptory message by the porter. Usually the 
 husband knows better than to disobey, and is marched 
 off in triumph. No wife thinks twice about entering her 
 husband's club for this purpose. She knows that she 
 will be accommodated with a seat in the vestibule, and 
 treated with the utmost civility and respect until her 
 man appears. As likely as not she will pass the time in
 
 94 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 a friendly chat with one of her husband's friends. Then 
 again, if her husband is not at home, she usually has the 
 satisfaction of knowing that he is spending his evening 
 in a respectable place, and with respectable companions. 
 
 But this is not all. Club entertainments and evening 
 lectures are frequently occurring entertainments often 
 taking place twice a week. On these occasions, as we 
 have pointed out, the wife is almost always in her 
 husband's company. 
 
 To so great an extent is this the case, that it amounts 
 almost to an etiquette or ritual. We have known many 
 cases when entertainments have been organised for work- 
 men, apart from club-entertainments, and the invitation 
 is almost invariably received in the same way " Thank 
 you sir and are the ladies invited ? " If they are not, the 
 entertainment is more than likely to be a failure. 
 
 These considerations give the matter rather a different 
 complexion. 
 
 It is wholly untrue to say that clubs have weaned men 
 from home-life. The real causes, as we have shown, lie 
 much deeper. All that the club does is of service rather 
 than the reverse. It is a vast improvement on the 
 public-house ; it gives the wife an opportunity of easily 
 finding her husband when she wants him, and it offers 
 opportunities of frequent companionship between hus- 
 band and wife which would otherwise be lacking.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 IF we have succeeded in emphasising the fact that the 
 workmen of London and other places have realised and, 
 to a certain extent, grappled with what we have called 
 the Leisure Problem, we shall be content. 
 
 There is one consideration of great significance which 
 should not escape us. It is this : that while the London 
 workman has been engaged in the conflict waged against 
 unjust and oppressive conditions of labour, he has, at the 
 same time, been able to realise some of his own most 
 serious faults, and that, having done so, he has made a 
 determined effort to amend. 
 
 If anyone is of opinion that the London workman is 
 content that his leisure should be spent in the public- 
 house after the old fashion, the existence of the Club 
 and Institute Union should be sufficient to confute him. 
 Were such content as this universal, an organisation like 
 the Club and Institute Union would be purposeless. 
 
 That this discontent is a reality is proved by the exist- 
 ence of the Union ; that it is deep-seated is shown by the 
 greatness and completeness of the organisation. The 
 nature of the discontent can be gauged if we compare 
 what is offered to a workman by his club with what is 
 offered to him by the public-house. 
 
 Lastly, and perhaps most important of all, that this 
 is a real and natural discontent, and not the result of 
 transitory missionary zeal, but is, as it were, the work- 
 man's own idea, is indicated by the fact that the Club 
 and Institute Union began to flourish and to be felt
 
 96 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 as a force, only when it was conducted on strictly 
 democratic lines. The more it shook itself free of 
 outside patronage and support, the more was its influ- 
 ence felt amongst the working classes, the more rapid 
 and secure was its success. 
 
 Xow, had this re-organisation on democratic lines been 
 accompanied by a serious lowering of the moral standard 
 in the clubs affiliated to the Union if, in other words, 
 they had fallen to the level of the public-houses we 
 should have been regretfully compelled to conclude that 
 no effort to amend had been signalised by the club move- 
 ment. Our object, in these pages, has been to show that 
 no such lowering has taken place. 
 
 We have described these clubs exactly as we have 
 found them ; we have shown where they are strong and 
 where they are weak ; if we have called attention to 
 their excellencies we have exposed and censured their 
 deficiencies. We have done our best to make it clear 
 that to confound these institutions with public-houses, 
 or to imply that they are to be condemned as illegiti- 
 mate places of amusement, is to be guilty either of 
 ignorance or of wilful injustice. It has occasionally 
 happened in the thirty years' history of the Union, that 
 certain clubs have proved traitors to the hopes and aims 
 of the promoters of this movement. But a critic who 
 condemns the Club and Institute Union on such a 
 ground as this will find himself awkwardly placed as a 
 critic of other institutions, for none will stand acquitted 
 in his eyes. 
 
 In order to estimate properly the value and signi- 
 ficance of this movement, we should take into full 
 consideration the conditions and circumstances of its 
 growth and existence. 
 
 In spite of poverty, in spite of opposition, in spite of 
 the severest temptations to relapse, this struggle to secure 
 for the working classes a leisure free from the public- 
 house taint, and one giving scope for various useful
 
 CONCLUSION. 97 
 
 interests and activities, has silently progressed through 
 thirty years, and has extended itself throughout the 
 United Kingdom. 
 
 When one realizes, as many fail to do, the strong and 
 cruel bondage that these men have silently striven to 
 shake off; how, ever conscious of their weakness, they 
 have combined to rid themselves of that taint ; how, in 
 spite of frequent failures and constant back-slidings, 
 they have steadily persevered, the strong pathos of this 
 struggle dawns upon one, and one realises the cynical 
 cruelty of identifying with this movement those associa- 
 tions which, against terrible odds, have been, and are 
 being, honestly combated. 
 
 It will not be amiss here to refer once more to the 
 ideals and aspirations which were made articulate by 
 this discontent. 
 
 Speaking at the Annual Meeting of the Club and 
 Institute Union on September 22nd, 1894, Mr Hodgson 
 Pratt, the president of the Union, after referring to the 
 great sphere in politics occupied by labour problems, and 
 making special reference to the recent Trades Union 
 Congress, said : " It may be asked why I refer to all this, 
 and to other great questions of social transformation. 
 My reason for doing so is that I wish to indicate the 
 position which your club movement occupies in reference 
 to the other organisations which exist in this country for 
 the welfare of the mass of the people. To put my 
 meaning in the clearest words possible, I would say that 
 while political leagues, trade-union, and co-operative 
 societies are formed for definite action, the clubs have 
 been formed, in great measure, to educate men for 
 that action, as well as for the general duties of citizen- 
 ship. You will at once perceive that I attach a very 
 large meaning to that word 'education.' Indeed, I hold 
 that these clubs are to fulfil the function intended by the 
 founders of this Union that of qualifying the whole 
 club world for their share in directing the legislation of
 
 98 THE CLUB-LAND OP THE TOILER. 
 
 this country ; for determining the conditions under which 
 their labour shall be conducted ; for deciding all questions 
 which affect the demand and supply of labour and capital 
 as well as the relation of population to the means of its 
 support ; and the command of foreign as well as home 
 markets." 
 
 We would draw attention to the fact that the idea of 
 recreation pure and simple is not here excluded. Mr 
 Pratt's object was to indicate the position which the club 
 movement " occupies in reference to the other organisa- 
 tions which exist in this country." And we should 
 notice that he says, "the clubs have been formed, in great 
 measure, to educate men for the general duties of 
 citizenship." 
 
 The more fundamental and subtle conception is brought 
 out further on. He points out that it is in his leisure 
 hours that a man has the real opportunity of forming 
 definite opinions of his own, and of determining the tone 
 and colour of his thought and life. He would make men 
 understand how important to them their leisure is in 
 this respect, how much depends upon its use or abuse. 
 Independence of thought and life must be striven for, 
 and in achieving this independence, in assisting this 
 opportunity, the Union is a powerful factor. He pro- 
 ceeds : " That is one of the reasons why this Union was 
 founded. We believe that the leisure hours of a man's 
 life are those in which he forms his mind, his judgment, 
 and his conscience. So long as those leisure hours were 
 passed in public-houses, he was surrounded by influences 
 prejudicial to that higher education to which I have 
 referred. We did not ignore the existence of the home, 
 but we recognised the plain fact that vast numbers of 
 workmen do not and cannot spend their whole leisure 
 there, any more than richer men. We further recognise 
 the fact that a citizen's education must, in some measure, 
 be formed through association with his fellows. We 
 believe that in the club, as compared with the public-
 
 CONCLUSION. 99 
 
 house, the education of the citizen would be carried on 
 advantageously, and if so, that our movement would be 
 of great value to the nation at large." 
 
 These are high ideals. The important question to 
 be asked is, are they to-day the mainsprings of this 
 movement ? Is the management and conduct of the 
 Union in harmony with such ideals 1 In answering this 
 question we must compare the aspirations and conduct 
 of the Club and Institute Union with the aspirations 
 and conduct of other institutions. We will find that all 
 institutions, in actual practice, fall far short of their 
 ideals. The Union is not peculiar in this respect. It is 
 the fate common to all. The question rather is, How far 
 has the Club and Institute Union approximated to such 
 ideals ? If the answer is favourable, we may yet assert 
 that the ideals of Mr Hodgson Pratt and his fellow- 
 workers are still the mainsprings of the movement. 
 
 We said just now, referring to the re-organisation of 
 the Union on democratic lines, that if such re-organisa- 
 tion had been accompanied by a serious lowering of the 
 moral standard in the clubs affiliated to the Union if, 
 that is to say, they had fallen to the level of the public- 
 houses we should have been compelled to conclude that 
 no effort in the direction of amelioration had been 
 signalized by the club movement. The purpose of this 
 book has been to point out that an approximation to 
 the original standards of excellence which inspired its 
 founders, has through the vicissitudes of its growth and 
 development never been absent in the history of this 
 movement. Suppose, for instance, that the club move- 
 ment had never been started, and that workmen had 
 spent their leisure in the public-house, would anyone 
 have claimed that, under such circumstances, the work- 
 man's leisure could ever have been practically regarded 
 as an opportunity for educational development. Ob- 
 viously not ; for as Mr Pratt justly observes, so long as 
 those leisure hours were passed in public-houses, the
 
 100 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 workman was surrounded by influences prejudicial to 
 that higher education to which he had referred. 
 
 We cannot insist too strongly upon the fact that, 
 since the democratic re-organisation of the Union that 
 is to say, since the workmen themselves undertook its 
 management and direction the prosperity of the Union 
 has increased, and that its extended prosperity has 
 in no sense been accompanied with a failure to ap- 
 proximate to the ideals of its founders. 
 
 Mr Pratt, as president of the Union, affords us ample 
 testimony to the truth of this statement, as the follow- 
 ing passage from the address referred to will prove. 
 " I desire," he says, " to express my belief that a large 
 proportion of the many thousand persons who have 
 been members of your clubs during the last thirty years 
 have, in consequence, become more useful and better 
 qualified for their duty at the polling booth, and more 
 efficient members of various organisations. This, in- 
 deed, is no small thing to have achieved. In the solu- 
 tion of the weighty problems that are near at hand, 
 the clubs will provide an ever-increasing number of 
 men able to appreciate and decide upon those problems. 
 Can I bear stronger testimony to the value of the clubs 
 and their Union ? " 
 
 Here we get an estimate as to how far an approxi- 
 mation to the ideals of its founders has been achieved. 
 It is no mean approximation, but one that justifies the 
 ideals which inspired, and still inspire, the movement. 
 Here, surely, we have evidence that the London work- 
 man has been able to criticise his own short-comings ; 
 that he has been moved by a discontent and a misgiving 
 which forced him to realise that the public-house, an 
 excellent thing in itself, was not his sole refuge ; that 
 there was a dignity attached to his existence which made 
 him understand that his leisure must not be thrown 
 away. 
 
 The Club and Institute Union has a special and peculiar
 
 CONCLUSION. 101 
 
 interest of its own in so far as its position is unique 
 in workmen's organisations. Trades' Unions, Political 
 Leagues, Friendly and Co-operative Societies are formed 
 in order to achieve some fixed and definite purpose. 
 Collectively their possibilities are great ; individually 
 they exist in order to actualize a certain aim. In their 
 case -there is no temptation towards sporadic develop- 
 ments. Their operations are conditioned by the de- 
 finiteness of their objects. But in the case of the 
 Club and Institute Union the same cannot be said. 
 The aim of this organisation is broader and more 
 general. Its proceedings admit of a greater variety ; 
 its enterprise is less determined and suggestive of 
 more ^varied possibilities. Its purpose is more vague 
 and general. Its object is to afford the workman a 
 new possibility by converting his leisure hours into 
 a great opportunity. It should be, and is, the 
 means of rendering other workman's organisations 
 more effective by affording them a better chance of 
 success. But this characteristic is its weakness as well 
 as its strength. Where the methods are less defined, 
 the chances of failure are more numerous. It is an 
 organisation which admits of great possibilities, but 
 of possibilities in two directions. The fact that the 
 Union has risen superior to the dangers suggested gives 
 it a claim to more than ordinary commendation. 
 
 It has been tried by tests of more than ordinary 
 severity, and, in estimating its failures or successes, 
 this should not be lost sight of or ignored. 
 
 This broadness of aim which naturally belongs to an 
 institution such as this, is attested by the multiplicity 
 of its pursuits. We have had occasion to draw attention 
 to its classes, its lectures, its libraries, its prize compe- 
 titions (both educational and recreative), and its debates. 
 We have described its methods of amusement ; the games 
 organised in the clubs, the Saturday visits, the Sunday 
 outings, the billiard, whist, and cribbage competitions,
 
 102 THE CLUB-LAND OF THE TOILER. 
 
 the athletic contests, the concerts and entertainments. 
 We have pointed out that many clubs organise provident 
 societies and other useful associations. We have shown 
 how political clubs are a force to be reckoned with in 
 local politics, how their work is especially valuable when 
 elections are in progress. It should not be lost sight of 
 that such activities as these are promoted by corpor- 
 ate action, and that in spite of the miscellaneous nature 
 of these pursuits a sense of unity and combination is 
 everywhere the leading motive and a powerful incentive. 
 A striking illustration of this is afforded by the two 
 latest achievements of the Union. The new hall and its 
 connected meeting-rooms are the result of the combined 
 effort and sacrifices of the Union and the clubs belonging 
 to it. The Convalescent Home is the second illustration. 
 Club-men had realised the usefulness of such an institu- 
 tion as this for invalided members, and steps were 
 taken to effect its erection and management. In 
 this last undertaking the clubs were fortunate enough 
 to secure the kind assistance of Mr Passmore Edwards, 
 who generously offered to present to the Union land and 
 buildings on a suitable site. Pegwell Bay was the selected 
 spot, and he acquired the premises lately used as the 
 Clifton Hotel. This building contains twenty-five bed- 
 rooms, games' rooms, dining-rooms and others, and was 
 decorated and put into repair by Mr Passmore Edwards. 
 
 But the clubs themselves had not been idle. Upwards 
 of five hundred pounds has been contributed by them 
 to defray furnishing and other expenses, principally those 
 of maintenance, arid other sums are being received from 
 the same sources. 
 
 Such sacrifices made for a common object are all the 
 more to be commended when we remember that these 
 institutions are workmen's clubs, and as such must be 
 managed on lines of strictest economy, in order that their 
 very existence may; be secured. 
 
 It will be seen, then, that the weaknesses of this move-
 
 CONCLUSION. 103 
 
 ment, where they exist, are, to a great extent, consistent 
 with the nature of its constitution, its work and objects. 
 It is from this point of view that they should be regarded, 
 and it is from this point of view that they should be 
 censured. 
 
 What those weaknesses are, we have given our readers 
 every opportunity of discovering ; we have also pointed 
 out that there exists a great tendency to exaggerate 
 these deficiencies, especially in cases when the charge 
 brought forward is that of intemperance. 
 
 Everyone, of course, regrets that any misconduct should 
 occur, and everyone, very justly, censm*es it when it 
 does occur. But there are two very different forms of 
 censure ; there is the reckless blame of one who sees 
 and appreciates nothing but the faults themselves, and 
 there is the tempered and more rational censure of 
 those who see the faults, but see them in their proper 
 perspective, and are able to make reasonable allowances. 
 
 Approaching the matter in this spirit, we have found 
 that, in spite of everything, in spite of short-comings 
 incidental to an organisation of this sort, there is much 
 room for praise. The last, and perhaps the strongest, 
 point of all, is that the club movement, as typified by 
 the Club and Institute Union, is, essentially, of and 
 belonging to the people themselves. Broadly speaking, 
 they have conceived and executed the idea themselves. 
 The more democratic its management has become, the 
 more striking has been its success. Nor, in spite of 
 this development, have the old ideals been lost sight of. 
 
 This movement, indeed, if any, has an interest and 
 significance of its own. 
 
 Those who are interested in the development of the 
 working classes have here the opportunity of scrutinizing 
 an interesting little phase in that development. They 
 have the opportunity of watching the proceedings of 
 thousands of workmen who are attempting to solve a 
 problem in their own way. They have taken a certain
 
 104 THE CLUB-LAND OP THE TOILER. 
 
 matter into their own hands, and are quietly doing their 
 best to arrange it. They are not looking for much 
 encouragement or advice from outside, because they 
 know that in many quarters their proceedings are dis- 
 countenanced. Nevertheless they are going on in their 
 own way. They know the difficulties which encompass 
 them, because they know that it is a delicate thing to 
 improve a man's leisure without spoiling it. They know 
 that the inherent difficulties in such an attempt will 
 frequently give occasion to the enemy to blaspheme. 
 
 Being fully conscious of the weakness of their position 
 they expect a certain amount of criticism ; but they 
 wince when they meet with unjust condemnation. The 
 fact that they find it difficult to answer an unfair imputa- 
 tion makes them all the more sensitive. There are some, 
 however, who realise that, in this undertaking, their 
 weakness is their strength. They have attempted to do 
 that which no one else has attempted, and in a way all 
 their own that constitutes their strength, as well as 
 their weakness. 
 
 This movement owes its success to men who have, more 
 than anyone else, felt the pulses of their fellow-workers, 
 and have divined something therefrom. 
 
 They have discovered a certain discontent which was 
 the result of a self-accusation, and they have done their 
 best to provide the proper treatment for the case. 
 
 In this matter, the working classes have consulted, 
 mainly, doctors from their own ranks. 
 
 Meantime, it is interesting to watch their methods of 
 treatment and to note results. It is in reality no in- 
 significant case, for these men have begun to grapple 
 with the great leisure problem
 
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