solution, but he did not understand what it was. Hence his doubting tone, the lack of a clear and definite purpose, or even the statement of a clearly defined problem for the solution of others. Hence the overlooking of the problem by those who took up the fight against him. Hence, lastly, the endless discussion to no purpose. Yet there was a definite problem, and had Bernstein understood it sufficiently to enable him to state it clearly it would have found an answer long ago.
At about the time Bernstein was writing his famous book, the present writer stated the essential point of this problem (which is in our opinion, together with the inability to appreciate the scope of modern imperialism, at the bottom of the whole Revisionist movement), in one sentence in the course of an unassuming magazine article. A good many have laid claim to the honor of being the original Revisionist. It is not the intention of the present writer to enter the lists as a contestant for this honor. This incident is mentioned here only for the purpose of showing that the air was then pregnant with certain questions which required answering. The present writer specifically renounces all claims to that high honor of being the Original Revisionist, for as a matter of fact he never was a Revisionist. It is of the essence of Revisionism to see or feel the problem and not to see its solution. The article referred to, however, not only stated the essential point of the problem, but also indicated its solution.
The problem is to harmonize the Marxian teaching with the development of corporate methods of doing business. We have already seen how Bernstein attempted to explain the discrepancy between the statistics as to the concentration of industrial undertakings on the one hand and as to the accumulation of wealth on the other, by a reference to the corporate methods of doing business. We shall see later that Bernstein has mistaken the influence of the development of corporations in that particular respect, and in general it may be said that Bernstein's weakness con-
