Representation had become mere misrepresentation; a maze of loopholes.

This was mainly due to the monstrous presence of certain secret moneys, on which alone many men could win the ruinous elections of the age, and which were contributed and distributed with less check or record than is tolerated in the lowest trade or club.

Only one or two people attacked these funds; nobody defended them.

Through them the great capitalists had the handle of politics, as of everything else.

The poor were struggling hopelessly against rising prices; and their attempts at collective bargaining, by the collective refusal of badly-paid work, were discussed in the press, Liberal and Tory, as attacks upon the State.