ABSTRACT

Russell’s third trip to America, in April 1924, was very different from those he had previously undertaken. In 1914 he had reached the pinnacle of his philosophical achievement, and in America had seen ‘mainly universities and university teachers’. 1 After the war he emerged as a political publicist, and his primary interest in the 1924 visit was to propagate the cause of socialism and world peace. Because he wished to be as effective as possible, and reach the widest audience, he engaged William B. Feakins, a self-styled ‘transcontinental tour agent for lectures by Men of Fame’, to attend to his programme. Although this arrangement was advantageous to Russell it created certain problems. An American socialist interested in arranging speaking dates for Russell in Washington and Baltimore complained to him shortly before the tour: 2

‘The fee of $200 rather threw cold water on the project and I confess that until I discovered Brother Feakins abducted 50 per cent thereof I myself thought it exorbitant for a man interested in ideas rather than in lsd.’