where it will then belong—into the Museum of Antiquities by the side of the spinning wheel and the bronze ax."[1]
In another work, he says: "The first act by virtue of which the State really constitutes itself the representative of the whole of society—the taking possession of the means of production in the name of Society—this is, at the same time, its last independent act as a State. State interference in social relations becomes, in one domain after another, superfluous, and then dies out of itself; the government of persons is replaced by the administration of things, and by the conduct of processes of production. The State is not abolished. It dies out."[2]
It is thus seen that, according to the teaching of historical materialism, the State is destined, when it becomes the State of the working-class, to remove its own foundation—economic inequality—and thus, to commit suicide.
Many of those, who have witnessed with mingled consternation and amusement the strenuous efforts of Mr. Roosevelt and the frantic zeal of Mr. Hearst to enlarge the scope of gov-
- ↑ "Origin of the Family &c." Pages 211, 212.
- ↑ "Socialism: Utopian and Scientific." F. Engels, Chicago, 1905. Pages 76, 77.
