168 MEMORIES OF MY LIFE 



there were a few others. We subscribed ^100 eacl 

 Spencer persuaded a City friend to do a little more in 

 order to start the concern, so a Limited Liability 

 Company was formed, and the newspaper was called 

 The Reader. 1 1 was an amusing experience, owing to 

 Mr. B.'s insistence, from a commercial point of view, 

 about the necessity of obtaining advertisements by all 

 sorts of ingenious means, but some of which, in our 

 opinions, were not quite above-board. Then it was 

 brought home to us that, as our venture was one of 

 limited liability, whatever we bought must be paid 

 for at once, while what we were to receive would not 

 be paid for many months. We were like children in 

 the hands of Mr. B., who knew all the ins and outs 

 of the commercial conditions of success, concerning 

 which we were almost childishly ignorant. The 

 newspaper proved dull, notwithstanding some really 

 good articles. The management was naturally too 

 amateurish ; promised articles were delayed, and the 

 time of the committee was too much wasted in 

 frequent discussions about first principles, upon which 

 Spencer loved to dilate. So The Reader did not 

 thrive. Its expenditure exceeded its incomings, our 

 reserve fund melted away, and the newspaper came 

 to an end after about a year's existence. We each 

 lost our hundred pounds, but no more, and had gained 

 an unexpected view of the seamy side of journalistic 

 enterprise. 



