d had the Constituent Assembly been permitted to function
unmolested and free, it would have taken many years to realize anything
like a well-rounded industrial democracy, for which a highly developed
industrial system is absolutely essential. The leaders of the Bolshevik
movement recognized from the first that the time had not yet arrived for
even attempting to set up a Socialist commonwealth based on the social
ownership and democratic control of industry. Lenine frankly declared that
"Socialism cannot now prevail in Russia,"[64] and Trotzky said, a month
after the _coup d'etat_: "We are not ready yet to take over all
industry.... For the present, we expect of the earnings of a factory to pay
the owner 5 or 6 per cent. yearly on his actual investment. What we aim at
now is _control_ rather than _ownership_."[65] He did not tell Professor
Ross, who records this statement, on what grounds the owner of the property
thus controlled by the Soviet government, and who thus becomes a partner of
the government, is to be excluded from the exercise of the franchise. But
let that pass.

When the Bolsheviki seized the power of the state, they found themselves
confronted by a terrific task. Russia was utterly demoralized. An
undeveloped nation industrially, war and internal strife had wrought havoc
with the industrial life she had. Her railways were neglected and the whole
transportation system, entirely inadequate even for peace needs, had, under
the strain of the war, fallen into chaos. After the March Revolution, as a
natural consequence of the intoxication of the new freedom, such
disciplines as had existed were broken down. Production fell off in a most
alarming manner. During the Kerensky regime Skobelev, as Minister of Labor,
repeatedly begged the workers to prove their loyalty to the Revolution by
increased exertion and faithfulness in the workshops and factories. The
Bolsheviki, on their part, as a means of fighting the Provisional
Government, preached the opposite doctrine, that of sabotage. In every
manner possible they encouraged the workers to limit production, to waste
time and materials, strike for trivial reasons, and, in short, do all that
was possible to defeat the effort to place industry upon a sound basis.

When they found themselves in possession of the powers of government the
Bolshevik leaders soon had to face the stern realities of the conditions
essential to the life of a great nation. They could not escape