Excerpt from Labor and Reconstruction in Europe The modern struggle for Democracy began with the demand of the nobles for the right to share with the king the privileges and responsibilities of government. That was followed by the middle or commercial classes insisting upon the same privilege. Later the workers demanded a voice in the affairs of state. By the middle of last century the people of the United States had achieved almost universal manhood suffrage. Since then those intrusted with the affairs of government have been responsible to all of the people for their acts rather than to any one group. But the change came so gradually and with so little of upheaval and conflict that it took the dangers and duties of a great world war to bring home to the masses of the people a full realization that they are the real power and final authority in a Democracy. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.