operative societies, and the absolute no-effect of that success on
the social conditions of the workers, are sufficient tokens of what
this non-political co-operation must come to: "Nothing--it shall not
be less."

But again, it may be said, some of the Democrats go farther than
this; they take up actual pieces of Socialism, and are more than
inclined to support them. Nationalization of the land, or of
railways, or cumulative taxation on incomes, or limiting the right of
inheritance, or new factory laws, or the restriction by law of the
day's labour--one of these, or more than one sometimes, the Democrats
will support, and see absolute salvation in these one or two planks
of the platform. All this I admit, and once again say it is a
hopeful sign, and yet once again I say there is a snare in it--a
snake lies lurking in the grass.

Those who think that they can deal with our present system in this
piecemeal way very much underrate the strength of the tremendous
organization under which we live, and which appoints to each of us
his place, and if we do not chance to fit it, grinds us down till we
do. Nothing but a tremendous force can deal with this force; it will
not suffer itself to be dismembered, nor to lose anything which
really is its essence without putting forth all its force in
resistance; rather than lose anything which it considers of
importance, it will pull the roof of the world down upon its head.
For, indeed, I grant these semi-Socialist Democrats that there is one
hope for their tampering piecemeal with our Society; if by chance
they can excite people into seriously, however blindly, claiming one
or other of these things in question, and could be successful in
Parliament in driving it through, they would certainly draw on a