They frankly acknowledged themselves as the party of
industry and trade, having no wider interests at heart than the maintenance
of order and law throughout the country. Their leaders were forced into
a revolutionary attitude only at the time when there was danger of a
universal collapse of Russia if the tsar's government persisted, and they
may be forced to join in a counter-revolution, if their interests are again
endangered. Their ideology is that of a capitalistic class and their power
depends entirely on the future development of industry and trade in Russia.
For the present they are nowhere. Unable to find a new basis for their
activity in place of class interest, they lack unity of purpose and are
deserted by their own former supporters among their employees. Trade and
industry are disorganized and the party may never be resurrected.
The Constitutional Democrats are in this respect better off. They find
their support chiefly among more or less educated people of various
pursuits: lawyers, bankers, brokers, journalists, teachers, artists,
scientists, etc. Their program embraces the interests of all classes and
demands political, judicial, economic, industrial and agrarian legislation
of a very radical and extensive kind. Their horizon of vision includes the
sufferings and aspirations of the often incongruous elements of the vast
whole, but their ideology is still based on the long outworn idealistic
capitalism and for this reason alone does not and cannot appeal to
not-owning classes.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25