We are at the beginning of a new historical period; anyone who is not blind can see it. New mass currents are entering our political life; every day new problems are presenting themselves; new forces are arising with which any government must deal. The very confusion of parliamentary parties demonstrates that the questions which divide us today are no longer those which divided us before. The ascendant movement of the popular classes becomes ever more accelerated. It is an invincible movement because it is common to all civilized nations and because it is supported by the principle of equality among men. No one should delude himself that the popular classes can be impeded from conquering their share of economic and political influence. Those who are the friends of established political institutions have a duty, above all, to persuade these classes – and to persuade them with facts – that from the existing institutions they can expect more than from dreams of the future; that each of their legitimate interests will find efficacious support in the existing sociopolitical order. It depends principally upon us, on the attitude assumed by the constitutional parties in relation to the popular classes, whether the ascendancy of these classes will be a new conservative force, a new element of prosperity and greatness, or whether instead it will be a whirlwind sweeping away the fortune of the Patria!