Page:Emile Vandervelde - Three Aspects of the Russian Revolution - tr. Jean Elmslie Henderson Findlay (1918).djvu/82

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Three Aspects of the Russian Revolution

characteristic of the Russian that the wilful stopping of work in the factories has been very rare. There has been found nearly always at the eleventh hour some way of coming to an agreement and avoiding the cataclysm that seemed imminent, while every day that passes, every agreement that is concluded renders future agreements easier to accomplish. And it is not merely luck that has brought this about.

From agreement to agreement the present system will end undoubtedly by becoming organized and adapting itself to circumstances. Will it retain its chief characteristics, or will it altogether change its nature? In other words, will Russia achieve the parliamentarization of industry on a solid foundation? Will it be hers to herald the coming of this "workshop republic" dreamt of by certain social reformers?

Perhaps! We do not wish to bring to the examination of this question any Western prejudices which will not admit that things can ever be other than they have always been, and we are bound to notice certain analogies between the creation of

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