Coefficients (dining club)

2024-01-29T06:07:46Z

2601:447:C601:3690:4412:929E:F05A:1953:

{{Short description|British political discussion group}}
''' The Coefficients''' was a monthly [[dining club]] founded in 1902 by the [[Fabian Society|Fabian]] campaigners [[Sidney Webb|Sidney]] and [[Beatrice Webb]] as a forum for British socialist reformers and [[New Imperialism|imperialists]] of the [[Edwardian period|Edwardian era]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell
|author=Bertrand Russell |year=1993 |isbn=0-415-10462-9 |page=452}}</ref> The name of the dining club was a reflection of the group's focus on "efficiency".<ref name=gollin>{{cite book|last=Gollin|first=Alfred M.|authorlink = Alfred Gollin |title=No Longer an Island: Britain and the Wright Brothers, 1902–1909|year=1984|publisher=Stanford University Press|location=Stanford, CA|isbn=978-0804712651|page=231|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xT2rAAAAIAAJ}}</ref>

==Membership==
The Webbs proposed that the club's membership reflect the entire gamut of political beliefs, and "proposed to collect politicians from each of the parties". Representing the [[Liberal Imperialists]] were Sir Edward Grey and Richard Burdon Haldane; the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Tories]] were represented by economist [[William Hewins]] and editor of the ''[[National Review (London)|National Review]]'' [[Leopold Maxse]]; and the [[British military]] was represented by [[Leo Amery]], an "expert on the conditions of the army", and [[Carlyon Bellairs]], a naval officer.<ref name=gollin />

The club's membership included:<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://archives.lse.ac.uk/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=ASSOC+17|title=Archives Catalogue – Coefficients
|publisher=LSE Library}}</ref>

* [[Leo Amery]], statesman and Conservative politician
* [[Richard Burdon Haldane]], Liberal politician, lawyer, and philosopher
* [[Halford John Mackinder]], geographer and politician
* [[Leopold Maxse]], editor, ''[[National Review (London)|National Review]]''
* [[Alfred Milner]], statesman and colonial administrator
* [[Henry Newbolt]], author and poet
* [[Carlyon Bellairs]], naval commander and [[Member of Parliament|MP]]
* [[James Louis Garvin]], journalist and editor
* [[William Hewins]], economist
* [[William Pember Reeves]], [[New Zealand]] statesman, historian, and poet
* [[Bertrand Russell]], philosopher and mathematician
* [[Clinton Edward Dawkins|Sir Clinton Edward Dawkins]], businessman and civil servant
* Sir [[Henry Birchenough]], businessman and civil servant
* [[Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon|Sir Edward Grey]], Liberal politician
* [[H. G. Wells]], novelist

Wells was recruited because he was deemed "capable of original thoughts on every subject" and proved to be "an especially active member".<ref name=gollin />

==History==
The Webbs came up with the idea of the dinner club as a forum for "serious discussions and to formulate or propose political policy", but shortly after its founding the members "abandoned immediate political goals" but continued to meet and discuss issues of interest. Haldane hosted the first dinner at his home in December 1902.<ref name=gollin />

In 1903 Bertrand Russell, who believed that the [[Entente cordiale]] policy would lead to war, resigned after Edward Grey espoused it in a speech.<ref>{{cite book|title=Autobiography |author=Bertrand Russell |year=2000 |isbn=0-415-22862-X|page=156}}</ref> The group was further divided over the issue of [[Tariff Reform League|Tariff Reform]] following [[Joseph Chamberlain]]'s resignation as [[Secretary of State for the Colonies]] and the increasing dominance of the [[Unionism in the United Kingdom|pro-Unionist]] membership, which favoured Chamberlain and his tariff reform policies, contributed to the club's dissolution in 1909.<ref>{{cite book|last=Russell|first=Bertrand|title=The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell, Vol. 12: Contemplation and Action (1902–14)|year=1985|publisher=George Allen & Unwin|location=London|isbn=9780049200951|page=452|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yqolyQXrB5UC}}</ref> Amery would invite those Coefficients supporting reform to form a new club called "The Compatriots".<ref name=Nimocks>{{cite book |title=Milner's young men: The "kindergarten" in Edwardian Imperial affairs |author=Walter Nimocks|date=1970|publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |page=145|isbn=0-340-12931-X}}</ref>

Printed minutes of its meetings are held by the [[British Library of Political and Economic Science]].

== Further reading ==
* Amery, Leo, [[iarchive:mypoliticallife0001amer/page/n7/mode/2up|''My Political Life, Volume One, England Before the Storm, 1896–1914'']], London: Hutchinson, 1953
* Gollin, Alfred, [[iarchive:nolongerislandbr0000goll_v2c6/mode/2up|''No Longer an Island: Britain and the Wright Brothers, 1902–1909'']], London: Heinemann, 1984
* London School of Economics, [https://archives.lse.ac.uk/Default.aspx? ''online'']
* Nimocks, Walter, [[iarchive:milnersyoungmenk0000nimo/page/n7/mode/2up|''Milner's young men: the "kindergarten" in Edwardian Imperial affairs'']], Durham: Duke University, 1968
* Russell, Bertrand, ''Bertrand Russell: Autobiography'', London: Routledge, 2000 [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/828579157 ''OCLC #828579157'']
* Russell, Bertrand, ''The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell, Vol. 12, Contemplation and action: 1902–1914'', London: G. Allen, 1993 [https://www.worldcat.org/title/collected-papers-of-bertrand-russell-vol-12-contemplation-and-action-1902-14/oclc/716358425&referer=brief_results#:~:text=OCLC%20Number%3A-,716358425,-Description%3A ''OCLC# 716358425'']

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Dining clubs]]
[[Category:1902 establishments in the United Kingdom]]

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Coefficients (dining club)