Page:Emile Vandervelde - Three Aspects of the Russian Revolution - tr. Jean Elmslie Henderson Findlay (1918).djvu/111

 Those who only see in the present events in Russia the triumph of irretrievable anarchy are making a great mistake. Constructive forces are already at work, and if we look closely we can already see their results. What we have said of the Trade Union and co-operative movements prove the capacity of the Russian for organization. It is remarkable, but it has limitations. The peasant has inherited it from long series of ancestors, accustomed to rule in common all the affairs of their village life; the working-man brings it fresh from the country that he has just left. When it is necessary to form a queue before the door of the baker's shop, hundreds of women place themselves in the most convenient position without any police supervision. Crowds gather in some public place for a manifestation or a meeting without disorder, without shouting, as if they were imbued with some collective intelligence. The masses seem to understand responsibility, seem to conduct themselves, govern and rule their actions better in Russia than anywhere else.

But the capacity for organization of the