Page:Readings in European History Vol 2.djvu/655

 Europe of To-day 617 constitutional when the prince consented to grant a consti- tution, as in the south German states in 1816 to 1819. The constitutional system was insensibly transformed into the parliamentary system as the sovereign took more account of the wishes of the elective chamber, as in England after 1830. The parliamentary system became democratic with the extension of the suffrage and the assembly's acquisition of supremacy over all the other powers, as in Switzerland. With the revolution of 1848 in France a new party, working for economic as well as political changes, made its appearance, as we have seen. 1 This movement was the outgrowth of the great industrial changes of the preceding half century. The efforts of its adherents were commonly directed towards some socialistic reorganiza- tion of society which should secure to the workingman a more generous share of the products of his labor than he could receive under the capitalistic system which had grown up. Of the many programmes of reform which have been drawn up by the labor leaders, the follow- ing, formulated at a great labor congress at Gotha in 1875, will serve as a statement of their chief economic doctrines. 1. Labor is the source of all wealth, and of all civiliza- 503. The tion; and since it is only through society that generally s <> cialis t productive labor is possible, the whole product of labor, ^sued'at 06 where there is a general obligation to work, belongs to Gotha (1875) society, — that is, to all its members, by equal right, to each according to his reasonable needs. In the society of to-day the means of production are a monopoly of the capitalistic class; the dependence of the working classes which results from this is the cause of misery and of servitude in all its forms. 1 See above, p. 560.