The Revolution in the Factories
most of the foolish actions that are the accompaniment in Russia, as anywhere else, of the apprenticeship of liberty could be prevented? And since these same incidents are recounted over and over again, does it not show that they are much less numerous than pessimists would pretend?
In short, taking everything into account, it would be unfair to say that wages in Russia, at the level to which the Revolution has brought them, are too high. It is not true to say that they have determined the excessive cost of living. That had begun long before labour became dear, and has since become aggravated for reasons in many cases independent of this phenomenon. We did not find that anywhere in Russia the real wages paid were higher than in Great Britain; they were certainly lower than in America. The industry of the country, therefore, can bear them without suffering, on the condition that it is as productive as, for example, American industry. And as it disposes, as a rule, of very modern equipment, and as its concentration allows of the application
67
