ually alone, without a party behind him representing his views;
in Britain the general democratic will of the nation is now being
organized, but has obtained as yet no spokesman in the government.

Extraordinary symptomatic phenomena have occurred in Russia as well as
in Britain. In Russia the rebellion of an awakening people against an
age-long tyranny has almost at once leaped to the issue of the day,
taken on the complexion of a struggle for industrial democracy. Whether
the Germans shall be able to exploit the country, bring about a reaction
and restore for a time monarchical institutions depends largely upon
the fortunes of the war. In Russia there is revolution, with concomitant
chaos; but in Britain there is evolution, an orderly attempt of a people
long accustomed to progress in self-government to establish a new
social order, peacefully and scientifically, and in accordance with a
traditional political procedure.

The recent development of the British Labour Party, although of deep
significance to Americans, has taken place almost without comment in
this country. It was formally established in 1900, and was then composed
of manual workers alone. In 1906, out of 50 candidates at the polls, 39
were elected to Parliament; in 1910, 42 were elected. The Parliamentary
Labour Party, so called, has now been amalgamated with four and a half
millions of Trade Unionists, and with the three and a half millions
of members of the Co-operative Wholesale Society and the Co-operative
Union. Allowing for duplication of membership, these three
organizations--according to Mr. Sidney Webb--probably include two fifths
of the population of the United Kingdom. "So great an aggregation of
working class organizations," he says, "has never come shoulder to
shoulder in any country." Other smaller societies and organizations are
likewise embraced, including the Socialists. And now that the suffrage
has been extended, provision is made for the inclusion of women. The new
party is organizing in from three to four hundred constituencies, and
at the next general election is not unlikely to gain control of the
political balance of power.

With the majority of Americans, however, the word "labour" as
designating a party arouses suspicion and distrust. By nature and
tradition we are inclined to deplore and oppose any tendency toward
the stratification of class antagonisms--the result of industrial
discontent--into political groups. The British