f modern
times. While the French Revolution was about to burst forth, the
example of the American colonies was fuel to the flames.

In turn, after the United States had won their freedom and were well on
their way in developing a republican government, the influence of the
radical democracy was seen in the laws and constitutions of the states,
particularly in the first half of the nineteenth century. The
Spanish-American War led to the development of democracy, not only in
Cuba and Porto Rico but in the Philippine Islands. But the planting of
democracy in the Philippines had a world influence, manifested
especially in southeastern Asia, China, Japan, and India.

_Spread of Political Ideas_.--The socialism of Karl Marx has been one
of the most universal and powerful appeals to humanity for industrial
freedom. His economic system is characterized by the enormous emphasis
placed upon labor as a factor in production. Starting from the
hypothesis that all wealth is created by labor, and limiting all labor
to the wage-earner, there is no other conclusion, if the premise be
admitted, than that the product of industry belongs to labor
exclusively. His theories gained more or less credence in Germany and
to a less extent in other countries, but they were never fully tested
until the Russian revolution in connection with the Great War. After
the downfall of Czarism, leaders of the revolution attacked and
overthrew capitalism, and instituted the Soviet government. The
proletariat came to the top, while the capitalists, nobility, and
middle classes went to the bottom. This was brought about by sudden
revolution through rapid and wild propaganda.

Strenuous efforts to propagate the Soviet doctrine and the war against
capitalism in other countries have taken place, without working a
revolution similar to that in Russia. But the International is slowly
developing a world idea among {488} laborers, with the ultimate end of
destroying the capitalistic system and making it possible for organized
wage-earners to rule the world. It is not possible here to discuss the
Marxian doctrine of socialism nor to recount what its practical
application did to Russia. Suffice it to say that the doctrine has a
fatal fallacy in supposing that wage-earners are the only class of
laborers necessary to rational economic production.

_The World War Breaks Down the Barriers of Thought_.--The Great War
brought to light many things that had been