CHAPTER XIV

engaged in propaganda, directing its efforts chiefly to forcing existing political parties to take notice of social questions; and largely also to educating middle-class persons in Socialism. There are other bodies more or less independent, scattered up and down the country, amongst whom may be mentioned the Bristol Socialists, Societies in Aberdeen and Glasgow, and the Hammersmith Socialist Society, the latter being an offshoot of the Socialist League. It must not, however, be supposed that the spread of Socialistic doctrine 1s, in any way, confined to the areas surrounding these local centres of propaganda; on the other hand, its influence will be clearly discernible throughout every industrial community. In spite of mishaps and disputes the movement has 187 taken root in England, and Socialism is beginning to be understood by the working classes at large, the Socialistic instinct being now obvious in all strikes and trade disputes, and having caused the growth of a new unionism based on a frank recognition of the class struggle. And, moreover, the governing classes have been forced to turn their attention to the condition