Page:Emile Vandervelde - Three Aspects of the Russian Revolution - tr. Jean Elmslie Henderson Findlay (1918).djvu/39



HE general impression received from a round of visits to the factories of Petrograd—the only ones that we had the opportunity of seeing—cannot but be somewhat vague and uncertain.

Innumerable conflicting forces are at work; probably their efforts will blend some day, but at present they are contra- dicting and counteracting each other. The action of some will only be momentary, while that of others will probably be durable. But how can we distinguish which are lasting and which transitory? What appears to be lasting to-day, to-morrow may be neutralized or completely annihilated by some other influence. Or else it may adapt itself to new laws and become fecund when we had thought it destructive. Some other force, the influence of which