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THE  SOCIALISM  OF  TO-DAY.

The  absolute  impotence  ¿'nd  sterility  of  the  Communes  at
Paris  and  in  Spain  clearly  pi  ove  that  Socialism,  though  it  may
snatch  a  victory  by  surprise,  is  unable  to  draw  profit  from  its
momentary  triumph.  A  polIdeal  revolution  is  often  an  easy
matter  ;  social  evolution  is  inevitable  ;  but  a  Socialistic  revolution ­
  is  impossible,  for  the  simple  reason  that  the  economic  face
of  society  cannot  be  changed  in  a  day,  or  by  force.  Nevertheless, ­
  many  governments  certainly  act  exactly  as  if  they  wished  to
provoke  a  terrible  overthrow.  In  fact,  on  the  one  hand,  evergrowing ­
  military  systems  and  more  and  more  crushing  taxes  are
reducing  the  people  to  ruin  and  driving  them  to  despair  ;  while,
on  the  other  hand,  every  manifestation  of  their  sufferings  and
all  their  wishes  for  reform  are  mercilessly  suppressed.
Socialism,  even  in  a  militant  form,  exists  to-day,  as  we  have
seen,  everywhere  ;  but  while  in  free  countries,  such  as  England,
Switzerland,  or  Belgium,  it  organizes  congresses  and  banquets,
where  it  speechifies,  sings,  drinks,  and  smokes,  in  States  where
it  is  persecuted  to  the  death,  as  in  Russia,  it  has  recourse  to  the
dagger,  to  incendiarism,  to  poison,  and  to  dynamite.  A  government ­
  which  refuses  to  grant  liberty  has  against  it  all  those  who
claim  liberty,  from  the  best  citizens  to  the  worst  scoundrels.
Let  it  grant  liberty,  and  its  only  enemies  will  be  those  who
deserve  the  hulks,  that  is  to  say,  happily  still,  a  very  insignificant ­
  number.
Intelligent  revolutionists  see  clearly  that  coercion  gives  them
weapons.  On  this  subject.  Citizen  Brousse,  author  of  the  article
in  the  Avant-garde,  which  was  condemned  at  Geneva  in  1878,
says  as  follows  :—“  Our  aim  being  the  destruction  of  the  State,
we  ought  not  to  wish  for  the  Republic  which  would  give  to  the
State  a  solid  foundation,  such  as  it  has  in  Switzerland  and  in
the  United  States.  The  form  of  government  most  advantageous
to  us  is  that  which  we  can  most  easily  destroy,  that  is,  the
restoration  of  the  legitimist  monarchy.  .  .  .  Relying  on  the
results  of  Sociological  science,  we  maintain  that  the  Conservative
Republic,  which  is  about  to  be  established  in  France  on  the
ruins  of  radicalism,  being  the  final  advance  which  the  State  can
make,  will  cement,  to  the  great  detriment  of  the  proletariat  of
Europe  an  indissoluble  alliance  between  all  the  elements  of  the