Second International | The 1889 Congresses | Proceedings of First Congress (Possibilist)
—51—
The session begins at quarter to ten.
The following are appointed chairmen:
For the foreign delegations, Citizen Bowen, American, delegate of a group of the Knights of Labor.
For France, citizen J. Allemane, delegate of the Typographic Circle.
Assessors: Citizen Campos, Portuguese delegate; Citizen Renier, delegate of the Paris coopers.
The secretary, Citizen Lavy, reads out a dispatch from the central committee of the workers of Geneva Committee which "sends the expression of its deep solidarity to the delegates of the worldwide socialist Proletariat, and hopes for union with the neighbouring Congress, Salle Pétrelle. Signed: Jacob."
Citizen André Gély, on behalf of the Commission of the Labour Exchange, informs the provincial and foreign delegates that excursions have been organized for them, and invites them to turn up each day at 11:30 a.m. at the Labour Exchange, if they wish to take part. The excursions for July 17th are to the Menier and Decauville factories.[1]
Citizen Ch. André, delegate from Epinettes, reminds Congress that it had been agreed that those citizens with free time would today accompany foreign delegates to the Communards' wall, in the Père-Lachaise cemetery.
Citizen Eveleigh, English delegate, and Citizen Burrows ask as a point of order that the closing time of the sessions be fixed exactly. Midday is unanimously accepted.
The President consults Congress to decide whether a delegate —52— from each of the nationalities represented will give or read out a report on the moral and material situation of the workers in their country.
Citizens Georgi, an American delegate, and S. Headingley, an English delegate, finding that a great deal of time has already been lost, propose that the written reports on this question be placed in the Congress archives without being read, and that Congress enter immediately into consideration of the questions on the agenda.
On the question of whether the reports will be read in session, the vote by nationality gives the following results:
For: Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Poland, France.
Against: America, England, Holland.
Abstentions: Italy, Portugal.
As a result, by 5 votes for, 3 against, and 2 abstentions, it was decided that a report on the situation of the workers would be given or read out by each nationality.
The English delegates ask that each report not exceed ten minutes. Adopted.
The Americans and English delegates say they will not present a report.
Citizen Costa, an Italian delegate, asks for the exact result of the vote of the previous evening's session, and the means that Congress intends to use to communicate this decision to the other Congress.
Citizen Allemane, one of the chairmen, thinks that the Italian delegation should be responsible for delivering the response, since it has acted as the intermediary between the two Congresses.
Citizen Fenwick proposes that it be the organizing Committee of the Congress that should deliver the result of yesterday's vote.
Citizen Delacoste supports this proposal.
Citizen Philippe supports the proposal presented by Citizen Allemane.
The Allemane proposal is adopted by a large majority.
—53— Citizen Lavy, secretary of the Congress, reads the following note, addressed to the dissident Congress:
To the International Congress gathered in Salle Pétrelle.
Citizens,
In the name of the international workers' Congress assembled at 10, rue Lancry, by virtue of the decisions of the International Congresses in Paris and London, we communicate to you the motion which was voted for yesterday evening by this Congress:
"The Congress declares that it accepts a merger, on condition that the verification of the mandates by each nationality takes place in the unified Congress.
It remains understood that the delegates whose mandate is contested will be able to appeal to the Congress, which will decide in the last resort.
The Italian delegation is responsible for delivering this communication.
The Congress bureau,
A. LAVY, secretary. J. ALLEMANE, President."
Votes for: England, Spain, Portugal, Austria-Hungary, Denmark, Poland, Switzerland, France.
Votes against: America, Belgium, Holland, Italy.
That is: 8 for and 4 against.[2]
Citizen Defnet, a Belgian delegate, then read his report on the moral and material situation of Belgian workers.
He notes that the workers are completely excluded from public affairs. The Constitution of 1830, while proclaiming citizens equal before the law, grants the right to vote only to those who can pay 42 francs in direct taxes. As a result, only 2% of voters participate, indirectly, in making the laws, which can therefore be seen as made by the rich against the poor.
Thus the struggle is being waged obstinately to win universal suffrage.
—54— In this "capitalist paradise" there is no legislation protecting the workers, who are competed against by convents and prisons.
The economic crisis has reached such a degree of intensity that in ten years wages have fallen by at least 10% and in several industries by 30 to 40%.
The numerous and deadly strikes which broke out in the coal basins, rarely, alas! crowned with success for lack of sufficient organization, had not only caused by or aiming at an increase in wages or the reduction of working hours, but also the defense of the right to association threatened by the employers.
After an in-depth examination of the terrible economic situation the workers, women and children (who receive only starvation wages) have been reduced to, the rapporteur concludes that the Belgian Workers' Party is convinced that the discussion in this Congress between all workers, will lead to new ideas for the rapid realization of the complete and radical emancipation of the proletariat.
Citizen Jensen then reads the report of the Danish workers.
After an historical account of the industrial and agricultural situation, he recalls that the socialist movement only started in Copenhagen in 1871, and that the government tried to brutally hold this movement down.
However, it has developed over the last seven years: 70 chambres syndicales organized in 7 federations with 20,000 members in Copenhagen and 5,000 in the provinces, a large political circle of 70 associations with 50,000 workers, 5 socialist newspapers in Copenhagen, 4 in the provinces, 1 satirical weekly are proof of this.
He details the miserable lot of workers in industry and agriculture from the point of view of wages and hours of work.
He recalls the strike of 1885 when the engineering workers, —55— to obtain a wage of 40 centimes an hour, fought for 3 months, supported by 700,000 francs in subscriptions and were defeated all the same. He goes on to announce that the cabinetmaking carpenters are currently on strike. He concludes by saying that the workers of Copenhagen are socialists, that they are fighting to overthrow royalty and replace it with a Social Republic, and that they call on all other countries to do the same.
Citizen Camps, Spanish delegate, then reads his report which Citizen Costa translates into French.
The movement, he says, began in 1848, with an association of hand weavers in Catalonia who founded the first society for resistance against the abuses of capitalism.
Since 1868 other associations for resistance have developed, above all after the International Congress in Basel in 1869. At that time the workers' movement took on a new aspect; it began to join in with the political movement to overthrow the monarchical government. Indeed, a revolution in favour of freedom and law had naturally to be defended by the workers who had hitherto been oppressed by the tyranny of a despotic royalty.
Then political and socialist workers' centers were formed. Delegates were sent to parliament and the town halls, and the movement began to reap the benefits that the workers' organization was able to derive from participating in political struggles.
In 1869, following the International Congress in Prague and the Regional Congress in Barcelona, the International Federation of Spanish Workers was founded, that is to say a huge association for revolutionary resistance with 7 newspapers (he reads out the names).
Progress has been made which would have been incalculable if —58— the division into tendencies had not brought about a halt, because if the development of socialism did not advance more it must be attributed in large part to the differences between tendencies, as well as to the decision of the Cortes which declared that these associations were illegal.
The largest of the labour resistance organizations is the "Federation of the three classes of steam" of Catalunha, which has a very turbulent history; it has a paper and a large number of members (70,000).
The Federation of coopers has 500 members; it has undertaken great struggles against capitalism. The National Metalworkers Union is also well organized, etc, etc.
The tendencies of these associations are anarchist, Marxist and possibilist, but it cannot be said that one of these categories of socialism is superior to the other as a numerical or moral force. There is even a section of the workers in the camp of the Republicans properly so called, but most of them are indifferent to it. There you have the situation of the Spanish movement.
The president reads a letter from the Chambre Syndicale of the weavers of Bessèges, who after the disaster which struck them were too poor to send a delegate to Congress, but declare that they support it and choose Citizen Portrat, a miner from Montceau-les-Mities, to represent them.
He then reads a message of support from the Congress of weavers of Cholet who choose Citizen Dumay to represent them.
Citizen Lavy reads the minutes of the previous meeting which are adopted after a correction by Citizen Parnell, who was not a delegate of the cabinetmakers of London but of the "Council of Trade Unions of London".
Citizen S. Headingley, an English delegate, reads a message of support from the Wimbledon Branch of the Social Democratic Federation.
Citizen Lavy, secretary of the Congress, communicates a —57— letter from the "Betnah green Branch"[3] of the Social Democratic Federation, which congratulates Congress and announces that, in a meeting held in London, the storming of the Bastille was celebrated and the memory of those who fell that very day was saluted.
The secretary informs the delegates that the administrative committee meets at two o'clock precisely and invites the members of the National Committee and the foreigners who are part of it to be there. He also notifies the delegates that Citizen Dubosc is selling the “Marseillaise des Proletaires” to Congress attendees at a price of 0 fr. 10, for the benefit of the strikers in Barcelona.
Citizen Burns asks that the organizing committee bring in around 100 issues of the "Parti Ouvrier" newspaper[4] every morning, so that delegates can find the information they need easily.
Citizen Lenormand, rapporteur for the commission of the Chambres Syndicales, reminds delegates that they must provide him with the number of members of their union.
Citizen Lavy informed Congress that the group of Swiss refugees had sent their support.
The Dutch, Portuguese, English and American delegates table their report on the situation in their country without reading it out, to avoid any waste of time.
The delegate of the Irish federation announces that his comrades had given him a handful of flowers picked from the tomb of the Chicago martyrs[5] and asked him to place it on the wall of the Communards.
The session adjourned at noon.
1. Two factories outside Paris, Menier manufacturing electric cables and insulators, Decauville a steam engine factory, with a 'model village' for its workmen. See Les grandes usines, études industrielles en France et à l'étranger by Julien François Turgan, available on archive.org.
2. The layout of the published text makes it appear that this vote was repeated, rather than being included in the note to the Marxist Congress, but this may be a printing error. Poland's vote is the opposite of the vote recorded the previous evening.
3. Presumably Bethnal Green.
4. A paper run by Jean Allemane's supporters.
5. The death of Chicago Martyrs, innocent anarchists executed in reprisal for the Chicago bombing in 1887, was remembered annually by most Socialist parties of the period, as were the victims of the massacre after the Paris Commune.