Page:Studies in socialism 1906.djvu/125

Rh in order to put the Socialist ideas into practice, must conquer the power that is indispensable, and that it should do this first of all by means of propaganda.

"We have shown that the number of those whose interest forces them into the ranks of our enemies is so small that it is becoming almost negligible, and that the immense majority of those who have a hostile or at least hardly a friendly attitude toward us only take this position through ignorance of their own situation and of our efforts, and that we ought to exert all our strength to enlighten this majority and win it over."

Liebknecht, then, has stated the problem exactly, literally, as I state it. What steps ought we to take to win over the national majority to the full Socialist ideal, through methods of propaganda and lawful action?

Liebknecht is so anxious to find a broad basis on which he can begin by uniting all the nation, with the idea of then lifting it up, step by step, to complete Socialism, that he considers even the compulsory insurance laws proposed by Bismarck as a preparation for Socialism. Although, in his eyes, the law dealing with accidents is hardly more than a flimsy paper toy, he sees in it a first recognition of Socialist thought.

"It embodies in a decisive manner the principle of State regulation of production as opposed