ure of power not only necessary, but the only
remaining alternative."

From Kautsky and Bebel, who have always been known as strong believers
in the possibilities of political action, to the somewhat skeptical
revolutionary Socialists of France, the ballot has thus far remained the
weapon of first practical importance, even for revolutionary purposes.
Bebel expects some day a great crisis which will go far beyond the
power of any merely political means to solve. Kautsky looks forward to
more than one great conflict, in which other means will have to be
employed, as does also his Socialist critic and opponent, Jaures. But
for the present all these men are occupying themselves with politics.

Even those Socialists who are most skeptical of the revolutionary
possibilities of political action by no means turn their back upon it.
The French advocate of economic action and revolutionary labor unionism,
Lagardelle, who recently surprised some of his French comrades, as I
have already pointed out, by running as a candidate for the French
Chamber, claimed that he did this in entire consistency with his
principles. And even the arch-revolutionary, Gustave Herve, has declared
that in spite of all the faults and limitations of political action,
revolutionary Socialists must cling to the Socialist Party. Herve had
looked with a favorable eye on the formation of a revolutionary
organization which was to consist only in part of Socialists and in part
of revolutionary labor unionists, but he declared at the last moment
that such an organization ought to be only a group within the Socialist
Party. A bitter critic of Jaures and also of the orthodox "center" of
the party on the ground that their methods are too timid to achieve
anything for Socialism in view of the ruthless aggressions of the
capitalists, Herve nevertheless said that it was only very exceptional
circumstances that could justify revolutionary Socialists acting against
the party organization, even though it seemed to be doing so little
effective fighting against the capitalist enemy.

There could be no stronger evidence of the powerful hold of political
action even on the most revolutionary Socialists than the summary in
which Herve reviews his reasons for this conclusion:--

"_First_: That the only manner of agitating for
anti-parliamentarism that succeeds, and is without danger, is
before and after electoral periods--showing constantly to the elite