Thus it was that in the fall of 1912 the socialist leaders, with the exception of Ernest, decided that the end of capitalism had come.  What of the hard times and the consequent vast army of the unemployed; what of the destruction of the farmers and the middle class; and what of the decisive defeat administered all along the line to the labor unions; the socialists were really justified in believing that the end of capitalism had come and in themselves throwing down the gauntlet to the Plutocracy.

Alas, how we underestimated the strength of the enemy!  Everywhere the socialists proclaimed their coming victory at the ballot-box, while, in unmistakable terms, they stated the situation.  The Plutocracy accepted the challenge.  It was the Plutocracy, weighing and balancing, that defeated us by dividing our strength.  It was the Plutocracy, through its secret agents, that raised the cry that socialism was sacrilegious and atheistic; it was the Plutocracy that whipped the churches, and especially the Catholic Church, into line, and robbed us of a portion of the labor vote.  And it was the Plutocracy, through its secret agents of course, that encouraged the Grange Party and even spread it to the cities into the ranks of the dying middle class.

Nevertheless the socialist landslide occurred.  But, instead of a sweeping victory with chief executive officers and majorities in all legislative bodies, we found ourselves in the minority.  It is true, we elected fifty Congressmen; but when they took their seats in the spring of 1913, they found themselves without power of any sort.  Yet they were more fortunate than the Grangers, who captured a dozen state governments, and who, in the spring, were not permitted to take possession of the captured offices.  The incumbents refused to retire, and the courts were in the hands of the Oligarchy.  But this is too far in advance of events.  I have yet to tell of the stirring times of the winter of 1912.

The hard times at home had caused an immense decrease in consumption.  Labor, out of work, had no wages with which to buy.  The result was that the Plutocracy found a greater surplus than ever on its hands.  This surplus it was compelled to dispose of abroad, and, what of its colossal plans, it needed money.  Because of its strenuous efforts to dispose of the surplus in the world market, the Plutocracy clashed with Germany.  Economic clashes were usually succeeded by wars, and this particular clash was no exception.  The great German war-lord prepared, and so did the United States prepare.

The war-cloud hovered dark and ominous.  The stage was set for a world-catastrophe, for in all the world were hard times, labor troubles, perishing middle classes, armies of unemployed, clashes of economic interests in the world-market, and mutterings and rumblings of the socialist revolution.*