Europe’s Unrest and Revolutionary Crisis

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 15, 1906

Europe’s Unrest and Revolutionary Crisis

During a recent sitting of the House of Lords, the upper branch of the English Parliament, Lord Avebury described the present condition of Europe in these words:—

The unrest in Europe, the spread of socialism, and the ominous rise of anarchism are warnings to the governments and the ruling classes that the condition of the working classes in Europe is becoming intolerable, and that if a revolution is to be avoided, some steps must be taken to increase wages, reduce the hours of labor, and lower the prices of the necessaries of life. Europe is a great military camp. We have no peace, only an armistice, with unlimited expenditures. The result is that instead of accumulating capital for our children, we are piling up for them debt and overwhelming responsibilities.

In its comment upon this remarkable statement the Wall Street Journal of New York City said:—

These words were spoken, not by a labor agitator or a socialist, but by an aristocrat and a member of the most conservative body in all Europe. That gives them all the more significance. They contain more valuable political economy than is to be found in most of the books. They sound a note of warning.

Observing men in America as well as in Europe are forced to the conclusion that the present tendency is toward a revolutionary crisis in which socialism will be arrayed against the moneyed interests. The only permanent remedy for this situation is found in the gospel message for this generation.