The contention that capitalist propaganda is what prevents the adoption of Communism by wage-earners is only very partially true.  Capitalist propaganda has never been able to prevent the Irish from voting against the English, though it has been applied to this object with great vigour.  It has proved itself powerless, over and over again, in opposing nationalist movements which had almost no moneyed support.  It has been unable to cope with religious feeling.  And those industrial populations which would most obviously benefit by Socialism have, in the main, adopted it, in spite of the opposition of employers.  The plain truth is that Socialism does not arouse the same passionate interest in the average citizen as is roused by nationality and used to be roused by religion.  It is not unlikely that things may change in this respect:  we may be approaching a period of economic civil wars comparable to that of the religious civil wars that followed the Reformation.  In such a period, nationalism is submerged by party:  British and German Socialists, or British and German capitalists, will feel more kinship with each other than with compatriots of the opposite political camp.  But when that day comes, there will be no difficulty, in highly industrial countries, in securing Socialist majorities; if Socialism is not then carried without bloodshed, it will be due to the unconstitutional action of the rich, not to the need of revolutionary violence on the part of the advocates of the proletariat.  Whether such a state of opinion grows up or not depends mainly upon the stubbornness or conciliatoriness of the possessing classes, and, conversely, upon the moderation or violence of those who desire fundamental economic change.  The majority which Bolsheviks regard as unattainable is chiefly prevented by the ruthlessness of their own tactics.

Apart from all arguments of detail, there are two broad objections to violent revolution in a democratic community.  The first is that, when once the principle of respecting majorities as expressed at the ballot-box is abandoned, there is no reason to suppose that victory will be secured by the particular minority to which one happens to belong.  There are many minorities besides Communists:  religious minorities, teetotal minorities, militarist minorities, capitalist minorities.  Any one of these could adopt the method of obtaining power advocated by the Bolsheviks, and any one would be just as likely to succeed as they are.  What restrains these minorities, more or less, at present, is respect for the law and the constitution.  Bolsheviks tacitly assume that every other party will preserve this respect while they themselves, unhindered, prepare the revolution.  But if their philosophy of violence becomes popular, there is not the slightest reason to suppose that they will be its beneficiaries.  They believe that Communism is for the good of the majority; they ought to believe that they can persuade the majority on this question, and to have the patience to set about the task of winning by propaganda.