Jekyll_text

270 THE CREATURE FROM JEKYLL ISLAND
That is the information that "powerful people" do not want the
common man to know.
Notice that Quigley refers to this group as a "network." That is
a precise choice of words, and it is important to an understanding
of the forces of international finance. The network to which he
refers is not the secret society. It is no doubt directed by it, and there
are society members in key positions within the network, but we
can be sure that there are many in the network who have little or no
knowledge of hidden control. To explain how this can be possible,
let us turn to the origin and growth of the secret society itself.
RUSKIN, RHODES, AND MILNER
In 1870, a wealthy British socialist by the name of John Ruskin
was appointed as professor of fine arts at Oxford University in
London. He tjught that the state must take control of the means of
production and organize them for the good of the community as a
whole. He advocated placing control of the state into the hands of a
small ruling class, perhaps even a single dictator. He said: "My
continual aim has been to show the eternal superiority of some men
to others, sometimes even of one man to all others."
This, of course, is the same intellectual appeal of Communism.
Lenin taught that the masses could not be trusted to handle their
own affairs and that a special group of disciplined intellectuals
must assume this role for them. That is the function of the
Communist Party, which never comprises more than about three
per cent of the population. Even when the charade of free elections
is allowed, only members of the Party—or those over whom the
KGB has total control—are permitted to run for office. The concept
that a ruling party or class is the ideal structure for society is at the
heart of all collectivist schemes, regardless of whether they are
called Socialism, Communism, Nazism, Fascism, or any other
"ism" which may yet be invented to disguise it. It is easy, therefore,
for adherents of this elitist mentality to be comfortable in almost
any of these collectivist camps, a fact to which Dr. Quigley alluded
when he wrote: "This network, which we may identify as the
Round Table Groups, has no aversion to cooperating with the
Communists, or any other groups, and frequently does so."
MASQUERADE IN MOSCOW 271
Returning to the subject of the origins of this group, however,
t)r. Quigley tells us:
Ruskin spoke to the Oxford undergraduates as members of the
privileged ruling class. He told them that they were the possessors of
a magnificent tradition of education, beauty, rule of law, freedom,
decency, and self-discipline, but that this tradition could not be saved,
and did not deserve to be saved, unless it could be extended to the
lower classes in England itself and to the non-English masses
throughout the world.
Ruskin's message had a sensational impact. His inaugural lecture
was copied out in long-hand by one undergraduate, Cecil Rhodes,
who kept it with him for thirty years.
Cecil Rhodes made one of the world's greatest fortunes. With
the cooperation of the Bank of England and financiers like
Rothschild, he was able to establish a virtual monopoly over the
diamond output of South Africa and most of the gold as well. The
major portion of this vast income was spent to advance the
ruling-class ideas of John Ruskin.
Dr. Quigley explains:
The Rhodes Scholarships, established by the terms of Cecil
Rhodes' seventh will, are known to everyone. What is not so widely
known is that Rhodes in five previous wills left his fortune to form a
secret society, which was to devote itself to the preservation and
expansion of the British Empire. And what does not seem to be known
to anyone is that this secret society was created by Rhodes and his
principal trustee, Lord Milner, and continues to exist to this day.. .. In
his book on Rhodes' wills, he [Stead, who was a member of the inner
circle] wrote in one place: "Mr. Rhodes was more than the founder of
a dynasty. He aspired to be the creator of one of those vast
semi-religious, quasi-political associations which, like the Society of
Jesus, have played so large a part in the history of the world. To be
more strictly accurate, he wished to found an Order as the instrument
of the will of the Dynasty. 2 ...
In this secret society Rhodes was to be leader; Stead, Brett (Lord
Esher), and Milner were to form an executive committee; Arthur
(Lord) Balfour, (Sir) Harry Johnston, Lord Rothschild, Albert (Lord)
Grey, and others were listed
as potential members of a "Circle of
Initiates;" while there was to be an outer circle known as the
1. See Kenneth Clark, Ruskin Today (New York: Holt, Reinhart & Winston, 1964),
p. 267.
2. Quigley, Tragedy, p. 950.
|- Quigley, Tragedy, p. 130.
2 -
Carroll Quigley, The Anglo-American Establishment: From Rhodes to Cliveden (N
Y °rk: Books in Focus, 1981), pp. ix, 36.
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