Page:Solomon Abramovich Lozovsky - The World's Trade Union Movement (1924).pdf/19

 Rh unions, but the gradual change of society. And this development of, socialism from a capitalist society they visioned as a developed form of democracy, a developed democratic society which spreads its democracy to the maximum. It is the development from political democracy, gradually becoming an economic and social democracy. This is the basis of the theory of the social-democratic trade union movement. Socialism, from their point of view, is the legal son of democracy. It should gradually grow out of the development of democratic forms.

And now we see that the characteristic of the social-democratic trade union movement which differentiates it is what we call "graduation" or steps from one form into another. This idea has different names in different countries, but in general and more correctly it may be understood as "reformism," which means the idea of gradual change of society by means of reforms. In France that which we call "gradation" has had the name of "possibilism." In England the same thing has been called "Fabianism," adopted by the so-called Socialists who are for a, slow, gradual transition from one system into another.

The social-democratic trade union movement stands separate from the Social-Democratic Party. It believes somewhat in a division of function: The party has to do with politics, we, the trade unions, have to do with economics. The general problems of the labor movement are under the jurisdiction of the party, but we, the trade unions, should only have to deal with economics. And it is interesting that there were many cases where the trade unions of Germany refused to consider the question of a general strike under the pretext that it was not under their jurisdiction, that it was the business of the party.

We have, therefore, three ideological factions in the world's trade union movement, which, before the war, were often in conflict with each other. These conflicts were mostly conflicts of leaders of different countries, notwithstanding the fact that these factions existed in every country. In Germany, where the socialist movement was most influential, the anarcho-syndicalist movement was very weak and mostly in so-called "local unions." In France, where the anarcho-syndicalist movement was the stronger, alongside with it there existed a powerful reformist trade union movement of pure German type. In America, and England where they have a specific type of trade union movement, other forms of the trade union movement also existed.

The ideological differences which existed in the trade union movement and the factional struggle within it found their expression also within the organizational struggle, and the last, in its order, found its expression in the International which was created before the war. The careful study of these various factions within the trade union move-