,,the ,,road ,,away ,,from              
,,revolution   ,illustration3           
,copyright ,harris  ,ewing1 ,washington1
 ,d4 ,c4  ,woodrow ,wilson #aibc4       
,,the ,,road ,,away   ,,from            
,,revolution    ,by    ,,woodrow        
,,wilson    ,illustration    ,,the      
,,atlantic ,,monthly ,,press    ,,boston
    ,,copyright #aibc ,,by   ,,the      
,,atlantic ,,monthly ,,press1 ,,inc4    
,,printed ,,in ,,the ,,united ,,states  
,,of ,,america     ,the following pages 
are reprinted   from   ,,the ,,atlantic 
,,monthly   for ,august #aibc     ,,the 
,,road ,,away ,,from ,,revolution       
,,the ,,road ,,away ,,from ,,revolution 
,in these doubtful and anxious days1    
when all the world is at unrest and1    
look which way you will1 the road ahead 
seems darkened by shadows which portend 
dangers of many kinds1 it is only common
 prudence that we should look about us  
and attempt to assess the causes of     
distress and the most likely means of   
removing them4  ,there must be some real

 ground for the universal unrest and    
perturbation4 ,it is not to be found in 
superficial politics or in mere economic
 blunders4 ,it probably lies deep at the
 sources of the spiritual life of our   
time4 ,it leads to revolution2 and      
perhaps if we take the case of the      
,russian ,revolution1 the outstanding   
event of its kind in our age1 we may    
find a good deal of instruction for our 
judgment of present critical situations 
and circumstances4  ,what gave rise to  
the ,russian ,revolution8 ,the answer   
can only be that it was the product of a
 whole social system4 ,it was not in    
fact a sudden thing4 ,it had been       
gathering head for several generations4 
,it was due to the systematic denial to 
the great body of ,russians of the      
rights and privileges which all normal  
men desire and must have if they are to 
be contented and within reach of        
happiness4 ,the lives of the great mass 
of the ,russian people contained no     
opportunities1 but were hemmed in by    

barriers against which they were        
constantly flinging their spirits1 only 
to fall back bruised and dispirited4    
,only the powerful were suffered to     
secure their rights or even to gain     
access to the means of material success4
  ,it is to be noted as a leading fact  
of our time that it was against         
8capitalism0 that the ,russian leaders  
directed their attack4 ,it was          
capitalism that made them see red2 and  
it is against capitalism under one name 
or another that the discontented classes
 everywhere draw their indictment4      
,there are thoughtful and well-informed 
men all over the world who believe1 with
 much apparently sound reason1 that the 
abstract thing1 the system1 which we    
call capitalism1 is indispensable to the
 industrial support and development of  
modern civilization4 ,and yet everyone  
who has an intelligent knowledge of     
social forces must know that great and  
widespread reactions like that which is 
now unquestionably manifesting itself   

against capitalism do not occur without 
cause or provocation2 and before we     
commit ourselves irreconcilably to an   
attitude of hostility to this movement  
of the time1 we ought frankly to put to 
ourselves the question1 ,is the         
capitalistic system unimpeachable8 which
 is another way of asking1 ,have        
capitalists generally used their power  
for the benefit of the countries in     
which their capital is employed and for 
the benefit of their fellow men8  ,is it
 not1 on the contrary1 too true that    
capitalists have often seemed to regard 
the men whom they used as mere          
instruments of profit1 whose physical   
and mental powers it was legitimate to  
exploit with as slight cost to          
themselves as possible1 either of money 
or of sympathy8 ,have not many fine men 
who were actuated by the highest        
principles in every other relationship  
of life seemed to hold that generosity  
and humane feeling were not among the   
imperative mandates of conscience in the

 conduct of a banking business1 or in   
the development of an industrial or     
commercial enterprise8  ,and if these   
offenses against high morality and true 
citizenship have been frequently        
observable1 are we to say that the blame
 for the present discontent and         
turbulence is wholly on the side of     
those who are in revolt against them8   
,ought we not1 rather1 to seek a way to 
remove such offenses and make life      
itself clean for those who will share   
honorably and cleanly in it8  ,the world
 has been made safe for democracy4      
,there need now be no fear that any such
 mad design as that entertained by the  
insolent and ignorant ,hohenzollerns and
 their counselors may prevail against   
it4 ,but democracy has not yet made the 
world safe against irrational           
revolution4 ,that supreme task1 which is
 nothing less than the salvation of     
civilization1 now faces democracy1      
insistent1 imperative4 ,there is no     
escaping it1 unless everything we have  

built up is presently to fall in ruin   
about us2 and the ,united ,states1 as   
the greatest of democracies1 must       
undertake it4  ,the road that leads away
 from revolution is clearly marked1 for 
it is defined by the nature of men and  
of organized society4 ,it therefore     
behooves us to study very carefully and 
very candidly the exact nature of the   
task and the means of its successful    
accomplishment4  ,the nature of men and 
of organized society dictates the       
maintenance1 in every field of action1  
of the highest and purest standards of  
justice and of right dealing2 and it is 
essential to efficacious thinking in    
this critical matter that we should not 
entertain a narrow or technical         
conception of justice4 ,by justice the  
lawyer generally means the prompt1 fair1
 and open application of impartial      
rules2 but we call ours a ,christian    
civilization1 and a ,christian          
conception of justice must be much      
higher4 ,it must include sympathy and   

helpfulness and a willingness to forgo  
self-interest in order to promote the   
welfare1 happiness1 and contentment of  
others and of the community as a whole4 
,this is what our age is blindly feeling
 after in its reaction against what it  
deems the too great selfishness of the  
capitalistic system4  ,the sum of the   
whole matter is this1 that our          
civilization cannot survive materially  
unless it be redeemed spiritually4 ,it  
can be saved only by becoming permeated 
with the spirit of ,christ and being    
made free and happy by the practices    
which spring out of that spirit4 ,only  
thus can discontent be driven out and   
all the shadows lifted from the road    
ahead4  ,here is the final challenge to 
our churches1 to our political          
organizations1 and to our               
capitalists--to everyone who fears ,god 
or loves his country4 ,shall we not all 
earnestly coperate to bring in the new  
day8     ,printed by ,mc,grath-,sherrill
 ,press1 ,boston   ,bound by ,boston    

,bookbinding ,co41 ,cambridge           
,transcriber's ,notes   ,the first      
illustration bears the signature shown  
in its caption4 ,the illustration on the
 ,title ,page is the ,publisher's logo4 
,italic text is enclosed in underscores4