The Revolution in the Factories
there was not even any regular authority or recognized moral authority, not even an existing traditional authority to oppose their will. Everything, in short, was in their hands. Can we be surprised that they sometimes abused their momentary power? If we will but reflect and take into consideration all the circumstances, we shall be astonished that they did not abuse it more often.
For taken all in all, the exaggerated claims, the acts of violence against em ployers and overseers, have been less numerous and much less serious than scared newspaper reporters would lead the public to believe. They have in any case been much less numerous than they would have probably been in any other country under the same circumstances.
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From the first there was keen discussion among the theorists of the movement as to the category in which the Revolution then just commencing should be placed. Was it a democratic or a social revolution? They argued the point warmly, as if it were more important to baptize the movement
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