Page:Emile Vandervelde - Three Aspects of the Russian Revolution - tr. Jean Elmslie Henderson Findlay (1918).djvu/50

 than to carry it on. Were the Revolution purely democratic, its domain was political, and it only indirectly affected the government of the factories. If it were social, on the other hand, it would have to settle the question of ownership, and it was the workmen's obvious duty to seize the factories. No one will be astonished, moreover, if we add that the workmen have never paid very much attention to such distinctions. They have certainly not limited themselves to making it purely political, but neither have they made themselves masters of the factories by appropriating them. They have simply exercised a practical authority. They have made their will predominate, a will which circumstances rendered irresistible.

The history of the labour hegemony in the workshops is full of curious incidents, some of them amusing, some tragic. We give one or two of the most characteristic, but as we fully realize the gravity and importance of the event with which we are dealing, after having described one or two picturesque incidents we shall pass on to a study of the deeper side of the question.