Page:Studies in socialism 1906.djvu/147

Rh middle-class has retained a vital force. It has followed the laws of scientific progress. It is constantly adopting new methods of production and renewing and improving its machinery. And even from the standpoint of the social struggle, the battle between the classes, it has readjusted its method of warfare; the invention of trade-unions of which the employer is also a member and to which he grants special privileges is a proof of the audacity and suppleness of its resources. What a contrast between the activity of a great prelate under the ancien régime, and a great modern capitalist! Some of these, like certain American millionaires, seem to have inherited the activity of Napoleon. And even in France, in a more modest degree, the capitalist class is ever on the alert. It is not from indifferent and drowsy classes, but from active, foresighted, and bold classes that the proletariat must wring its privileges. How can it do this if it has not the nation on its side? If the mass of the nation is hostile, it will be crushed. And if it is only distrustful, the manœuvres of the capitalist class will soon change that distrust to hostility.

Thus we see that the universal motion and vitality of modern life and the universal activity of energy no longer admit of successful action by minorities. There are no longer dormant masses