The group wanted the preface to be written by a prominent Liberal, other than Lord Rosebery or Sir William Harcourt as these were the leaders of opposing factions.

Hirst then asked H. H. Asquith who said the essays were likely intended to be "a declaration of war against that section of Liberal opinion, which has of recent years gravitated towards modes of thought and fashions of speech which are called 'Collectivist'".

He further said that whilst he did not find himself in "substantial disagreement" with the essays he declined the offer because "exception might not unreasonably be taken to my going out of my way (as it would be said) to herald a militant demonstration, avowedly directed against a section (however small) of the party of which I am (for the time being) one of the responsible leaders".

Gladstone replied with a handwritten letter: I am wholly unable to comply with the requests which so often reach me for the writing of Prefaces, but I venture on assuring you that I regard the design formed by you and your friends with sincere interest, and in particular wish well to all the efforts you may make on behalf of individual freedom and independence as opposed to what is termed Collectivism.

[10] After he had left Oxford, Hirst edited political and economic books for Harper's, including one on Toryism by F. E. Smith and one on Socialism by R. C. K. Ensor.

Hirst wrote to the new Liberal Prime Minister, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman on 29 December 1905, claiming that depression in trade and social distress could be explained by over-taxation and wasteful government expenditure on armaments.

[15] Hirst wrote again to Campbell-Bannerman on 9 November 1907, claiming that his government would only regain popularity by pursuing the traditional policy of retrenchment in expenditure.

[19] Hirst wrote that there was little to choose between the old Prime Minister Asquith and the new, Lloyd George; they both held power at the pleasure of protectionists.

In 1927 he noted the Labour Party's opposition to tariffs but also doubted whether "any system of socialism is ultimately compatible with the policy of free imports and the open door".

[22] When the Liberal Walter Runciman, President of the Board of Trade, introduced the Abnormal Importations (Customs Duties) Act 1931 Hirst accused Runciman of pursuing a "Tariff of Abominations, the worst since Waterloo", with the Ottawa Agreement meaning that Britain's tariff policy was no longer under the control of the British Parliament but by the colonies.

[24] He spent several years in the late 1930s writing an enormous biography of the liberal statesman Percy Molteno but, though it was completed in May 1939, the outbreak of World War II prevented its publication.