—100— In accordance with the resolution passed by Congress, we will leave here in outline the reports submitted to the Congress, which could not be read out due to the lack of time.
The members of the republican-socialist democratic society of Alsace-Lorraine consider it a duty particularly incumbent on them to take part in this great socialist and international demonstration.
The peculiar situation imposed on our country — so they said to themselves — the misuse of patriotic feelings, sometimes given the stamp of crude chauvinism, sometimes placed at the service of personal-political plans and ambitious charlatans — compels us in particular to attend this congress in order to express the real feelings which must inspire every Alsace-Lorraine citizen in his innermost heart.
Citizens! As democrats, we believe that the freedom of a people is as sacred as that of the individual. When the republic was proclaimed anew on September 4, 1870, after twice succumbing to the blows of the Bonapartes, the solidarity of all members of this republic was proclaimed at the same time. We have mutually assumed the obligation to defend the freedom we have achieved in all its forms and in all parts of the social body where it might be endangered. This freedom was a common inheritance that none of us could allow harm to happen to — the Social Democrats even less than anyone else, considering that they have given the republican idea its real and perfect expression by viewing it as the source of all emancipation, by making it part of all political and social demands.
This is the secret of the glorious defense of 1870; That is the reason why we socialists, who in our disgust for despotism went so far as to wish the defeat of the imperial army, appeared as complete defencists from the day when the fatherland included the concepts of republic and revolution and decked itself out in them.
On that day our protest met with a positive response from the social democrats of all countries, at the same time that in France itself the coalition of false patriots was directed against it. While Trochu, Jules Ferry and Jules Fabre threw us into prison because we wanted to avenge Bazaine's betrayal, men were found in Berlin who had the courage to shout to the victorious armies: “No further!”, and when Bismarck demanded new credits, emphatically replied: “We refuse to give you our consent! The Germans and the French are brothers and we do not want to be complicit in a fratricidal war.” These brave men are sitting with us in this congress today! We greet them as friends and brothers as gratefully and warmly as we pursue the traitors, who left the fatherland defenceless, with inextinguishable resentment.
When complete calamity fell upon us, it was Alsace-Lorraine which had to foot the bill for everyone. It was treated as one treated conquered lands in barbaric times.
We cannot protest vigorously enough against this violation of the law.
We are the men of revenge owed to us by the courts of justice. But how should we take our revenge? How should we get it?
—101— Would you, Social Democrats, dare to take it upon yourself to pit two great nations, Germany and France, which have both contributed gloriously to the works of civilization and will do so in an even higher degree in the future, against one another and to drive them into a war of annihilation which would be fatal for both and for all of humanity? Whatever the outcome, it would in any case be a defeat of social emancipation, a return to barbarism.
We will not give in to it, we wish that this war never takes place. Our revenge should not exterminate peoples and strengthen tyranny, — our revenge consists in the advancement of republican and socialist ideas, which radiate from France across the borders and show the peoples that we are not enemies but brothers and that we have the same instincts, the same needs, that we honour the same endeavors, and that we conquer the same obstacles in the same way, have the same enemy to fight. And this enemy is oppression in all its political and social forms, it is brutal military despotism, it is the more hypocritically hidden but no less oppressive yoke of capital.
For its part, capital knows no fatherland; it is just as ruthless on German and French soil as it is on that of Alsace-Lorraine. Much fuss has been made about the philanthropic visits of the Dolfus, Cöstlin, but the only result that came about was far from freeing the workers, but only tightened the chain and made their bondage complete. Community of interests and the perils which keep the whole democracy together and unite it, and which drive it to unite its efforts, are what you herald in this congress and we Socialists of Alsace-Lorraine salute you with joy. Like you, we wish for the peace that alone allows democratic and socialist ideas to take root and grow; just like you, we do not want to break each other's necks, which is what political charlatans want us to do, but rather we want to unite, organize ourselves in groups in order to jointly contribute to the general liberation, to work for the political and economic emancipation of the great family of all proletarians! We say to the French and the Germans, as we do to the Belgians, the Swiss, etc., faced with the socialist idea, the multiplicity and the differences of the peoples disappear. For us there is only one people: the people of the workers who gather under the banner that is emblazoned in this hall and that will travel round the world better than all other banners, not to spray out carnage and anger by bringing in hatred, but to spread the fruitful seeds of general emancipation, in order to break the common chains of slavery and misery everywhere.
These chains owe their persistence to war, but we want peace; — they owe their durability to an army of soldiers in the pay of the rulers and capitalists. No more standing army! General armament of the people! This is the only means to suppress war, to secure the triumph of political and social freedom and thereby to establish the rule of brotherhood among mankind.
The German socialists of the Republic of Argentina greet the socialist congress of the workers of both hemispheres, which —102— is due to begin on the centenary of the memorable storming of the Bastille. Unfortunately they are unable to send a delegate because of the great distance from Paris and the large travel expenses. Nevertheless, they attach great importance to being represented at this congress and submit to it a concise report on the situation of the workers in Buenos Aires.
The labour movement is still developing here. The intellectual development of the native proletarians still lags so far behind that they have not even seen the need to defend their interests.
The majority of the immigrant proletarians are recruited from Italians, Spaniards, French and only a minority from Swiss, Austrians, Germans and Northern Europeans in general. The language difference is a great obstacle to common understanding. And then many come here with the fixed idea of acquiring a large fortune in a short time and then returning home to their fatherland. We have a whole mass of this kind of people who, on the one hand, care neither about the social question, nor about any other, and only devote their attention to the “hunt for the dollar” – and as they say: Easy come, easy go, — and who, on the other hand, form a proletariat wallowing in misery.
In addition to the wage system, the neglectful and dishonest administration of this naturally rich country should be mentioned as the reason for the exploitation of workers. Thanks to the miserable administration, the Republic of Argentina has given away all ploughable land to private individuals, who speculate with it in a shameless manner and drive on usury which turns the immigrants into tribute-payers for life. Thanks to this administration, the Republic of Argentina also has a national debt of 900 million pesos (1 peso = 5 francs = 4 marks); To pay interest on this debt, more than 60 million pesos go abroad every year. Nine-tenth of the state revenue is raised through indirect taxes, which are mainly on foodstuffs, and make them so expensive that the situation of the workers is unbearable, especially when they have numerous families.
Paper money is the legal tender. According to the report of the President in his memorandum to the Congress, with a population of 312 million, more than 151 million pesos (755 million francs) are in circulation of which only 8% can be backed with gold. This scandalous disproportion, which is getting worse from day to day, created a gold premium of 60%, so that 160 pesos in paper are worth only 100 pesos in gold. This circumstance, of course, considerably aggravates the situation of the workers, who are paid exclusively with paper money, while the price of all their necessities is calculated according to the gold premium. So the high wages are just an appearance.
The daily wage of a worker varies between 1, 2, 2½ and 3 pesos; only in a few exceptionally favoured industrial establishments do wages exceed this rate.
The housing and tenancy relationships form another type of cancer that gnaws away at the workers' marrow. Rent for a single room averages 20 pesos a month and thanks to land speculation it is rising steadily. The rooms are for the most part without windows, paved with slabs, damp, and very unhealthy.
The capitalist system of robbery has happily managed to turn this land, so favoured by nature, into a hell for the workers and a paradise for the exploiters. Having children is forbidden, so to speak, in view of the fact that large working-class families find housing only with great difficulty and with considerably higher rent.
—103— In spite of their brilliant appearance, the schools by no means meet the requirements that one can reasonably expect of good schools. The children here run the risk of becoming intellectually neglected, so families with children in need of education must be seriously advised against immigrating to the Republic of Argentina. The children of the proletarians are compelled from the tenderest adolescence to earn their own bread. There are no labour protection laws restricting female and child labour in the workshops. On the contrary, with tax exemptions, with protection of interests and with the transfer of land, the state actually favours those entrepreneurs who establish firms with the stated purpose of exploiting female and child labour.
The administration of justice is feeble; patronage alone dictates the verdicts. If the worker struggles against his patron (employer) because of unpaid wages, he can litigate for many years at great expense without obtaining his rights.
This sad social situation, which continues to worsen, caused several stoppages of work at the end of last year and the beginning of this year, particularly among the workers in the railway workshops. During these strikes, the police brutally sided with the employers. The workers‘ right of association was suppressed, and strikers were thrown into prison. A few months later, 144 tailors were arrested while quietly holding a meeting after their boss denounced them. Their crime was having discussed a 25% wage increase. At the beginning of this year the capitalist press demanded a law against the socialists who were held responsible for the strikes, while in truth misery and hardship drove the strikers into a hopeless struggle, while for the most part being quite indifferent to socialism.
The influence of the socialists is in fact still very slight. Small businesses predominate and there is a lack of industries that lead workers by the thousands to workplaces or into factories.
Only here and there are a few professional associations and corporations; the total of their members is infinitesimally small and they can barely survive. One can name only one international association ( cercle international ), which mainly includes Italians, Spaniards and French, who meet once a week. They are committed to anarchist tendencies and the money they save is sent to Europe to support the propaganda there.
The repeated attempts by Italians to found a workers’ paper in Italian have always failed because of the lack of interest on the part of the masses.
For 9 years now, the German socialists from Buenos Aires have come together to form an association called “Vorwärts”, which was founded by 13 members and now has over 150 members. The association has its own club premises with a hall, a theatre stage and a library of several hundred volumes, and the majority of these books are socialist writings and scientific works. The foundation of the association is the program of the German Social Democrats. It has an agency for the sale and dissemination of socialist literature: it collects money that it sends to Germany to support the elections and the persecuted and convicted comrades. Discussions on social issues are held on the club evenings. In addition, singing is cultivated and the German workers from Buenos Aires like to attend the festivals organized by the association. The members of the association suggested and set to work to found a German workers' newspaper "Vorwärts", which is published by —104— this rapporteur. The paper was founded 3 years ago; It started out with 150 subscribers and in a small format, had to be enlarged three times and now has a circulation of 600 copies. The paper holds up with great difficulty, thanks to the help of the devoted comrades.
We have described the social situation in Buenos Aires; in the provinces the conditions are similar, and, far from being better in the country, they must be described as even worse there. The German Socialists of the state of La Plata send this brief report to the Congress and assure it that they are following its proceedings with the keenest interest and that they are working as hard as they can to spread socialist ideas in order to hasten the arrival of the day on which the Bastille of capital will be razed, and freedom, equality and fraternity will triumph. Long live the brotherhood of the workers of all countries!
Social democratic greetings
The great corporation of the weavers of Amiens and the department of the Somme considered it necessary to be represented at the international congress in order to depict the intolerable situation in which they themselves, like the great mass of the working people, find themselves through the fault of those who have always lived in abundance and idleness.
Since the time of the centenary of the revolution of 1789 it must be declared that nothing has been done for the workers. Only people who are ignorant of the daily sufferings and privations of the proletarians can claim the opposite. These people never learned that we weavers in particular have languished in misery, without even daring to complain.
Crammed into more or less unhealthy workrooms for 12-14 hours a day, we receive a wage that is hardly sufficient to meet half of our most essential needs. On the other hand, so-called national wealth is increasing every day due to new advances in technology etc., in unheard-of proportions. But these advances do not benefit the mass of workers; the riches which the workers create are of advantage only to the capitalist minority. This state of affairs cannot continue as it is. If our leading people understood how things were and what their duty is, they would have started by shortening the working day. The long working hours have a tremendous impact on the health of the workers, especially when the poor wage slaves are locked up from 6 in the morning until 7 or 8 in the evening. If a law on working hours, such as that long demanded by the proletarians, limited the working day according to consumption, the workers too would benefit from those advances owed to science. If there were a law to reduce working hours for women and children — and the latter will be forced to work before they have the strength to do so! — if there were, there would be less misery among the working class. The wages would then also be higher and they would allow us to consume more according to our needs; there would be no lack of work, goods would not pile up in the warehouses to rot, while we workers suffer from lack of everything.
But those who make us suffer did not make such a law!
—105— In the city of Amiens, in various industries, a great number of men are unemployed, while women have taken their place, instead of being busy with their households. Our masters take advantage of this fact by lowering our wages still further, in view of the fact that these weak creatures are compelled to be satisfied with even lower wages than men.
All sufferings, all injustices fall to the part of the workers, and yet they have always worked and given up their sweat and their strength to enrich those who bring them into utter misery. Our self-selected representatives have never done anything for us, on the contrary, they crush us with their power when we claim our right to exist. Those whom we have made our masters lack all humanity, for otherwise there would not be so many unfortunate people in a country like France, which produces twice as many goods as are necessary to suffice for all.
We are the victims of centuries of injustice on the part of our rulers, we are exploited in their favour, threatened by laws that are specially made against us, and so only union can remedy this sad situation that is the result of misery and social inequalities.
Let us unite, we are the majority; let us unite, we are the force. The hour is approaching when we will found a social democratic republic which will ensure a better future for all citizens by respecting the rights of all their members through its laws. In order to get there, let us choose representatives who march straight into the social struggle without any second thoughts, and whose work in Parliament will not waste time on childish matters or with questions of personal interest, but will serve to improve the situation of the people. We all know men in our respective departments who are worthy of our trust, men who put all their efforts into bringing about a social-democratic republic in which humanity, freedom and justice will be more than empty words. Let us prove in the next elections that we know how to choose reliable representatives, and let us march hand in hand all as one towards the same goal!
The beginning of the socialist movement in the Oise department dates from the end of 1884, when our Association for Study and Propaganda was founded. In order to awaken the self-confidence of the masses, it organized lectures, debates and courses in social economy for all organized trade unions and professional associations. In order to carry out the educational part of its task, the association prepares private and public meetings in Beauvais as well as other industrial and agricultural centres of the department. Since its inception, it has, alone or with the help of citizens Guesde, Vaillant, etc. held over 20 meetings.
The activity of the groups extends to the political, the economic and the international fields.
If a conflict breaks out between employers and wage workers, the association has a representative investigate the details of the dispute and offers the threatened corporation its intellectual and moral support, because it considers it the duty of every socialist to always be in the vanguard of the workers, to advance the struggles between labour and capital through propaganda, and —106— and to come to the aid of the unemployed, the starving women and children. Once the fight has been decided on, it must be carried on with all possible energy, whether or not anything comes of it — the soldiers of the proletarian army must take part in all battles.
In this way the association facilitated the resolution of two strikes that were about to take place and, in 1887, took part in the strike of 1200 metalworkers at Creil-Montalaire, which unfortunately ended in the workers' defeat.
Constant contact with the working masses made clear to the association the great importance of corporate organization, which enables more extensive propaganda and action and provides good preparation for the worker-soldier in the struggle for emancipation. The formation of groups of professional associations[a] carries the seed of that power which, in the not too distant future, will have to take over the regulation of production and the distribution of goods.
The association has therefore promoted the formation of the following trade associations in Beauvais:
| Association of spinners and weavers | . . . . | 160 members |
| Association of craft carpenters | . . . . | 30 members |
| Association of building trade workers | . . . . | 120 members |
| Association of leatherworkers | . . . . | 25 members |
A professional association for the clothing industry is emerging.
In Creil there is a metalworkers' association with 300 members.
In other small towns in the department, the association has initiated study and specialist groups.
The political activity of the society has hitherto been confined to the city of Beauvais. In the communal elections in 1888, our candidate was elected with 1789 votes in the first ballot. Since his appointment, the Socialist delegate has achieved:
The council has taken into consideration demands for:
The demands for a tax on meat and to set up municipal administrative offices for the public supply of food at purchase price were rejected by a small majority.
These measures are not regarded as a means of emancipation, since this is impossible as long as the iron law of wages plays its part under the capitalist system. But they destroy economic prejudices and prepare individuals and corporations for the management of public services on the day of the transformationa.
The Labour Affairs Commission studies the municipal collective bargaining schemes and intends to set an hourly wage for the employer and to determine the advance price ( prix de deboursé ) that the employer must guarantee his workers working for the community.
If this demand is rejected, the socialist MP will be instructed to demand a maximum working day and a minimum wage for communal jobs.
—107— In the political field, the Beauvais socialist association rejects any compromise, but that in no way implies abstaining. The socialists always remain at their post with the vanguard of the republican reserve, because here under the capitalist regime this is the least unfavorable terrain for socialist purposes. It is the same with universal suffrage, which is not a panacea, but a means of propaganda and agitation.
Its political activity has led the Society on several occasions to deal with questions which are on the agenda of the Congress, namely those relating to international labour legislation.
It is striking proof of the strength of socialism and the pressure of the economic forces that governments — of course in their ways! — have resolved to study the question of international labour legislation at the conference in Bern.
Although the final liberation of the working class can only be made possible through the suppression of overwork, since this will make the production of surplus-value impossible — and this will be the shared task of the whole socialist world! — the revolutionary proletariat makes direct demands, which were already formulated at the founding of the International Workingmen's Association: for example, the reduction of the working day to 8 hours for men and women, and to 6 hours for young workers aged 14-18. As a necessary addition, this measure entails the establishment of a minimum wage which enables the worker to live and to maintain and raise his family.
The reduction in working hours means for the workers an increase in their physical, mental and moral state of health, it will give them time for study and for the work of organization, it will help to make them aware and able to fulfill their historical mission. It is, so to speak, a preparation for the final liberation of the proletariat; it will make it possible for capable, determined workers' battalions fully enlightened as to their ultimate goals to be formed, for revolutions do not fly into our mouths like roasted pigeons.
The oppression of the workers by the bourgeoisie must finally be ended, and that exclamation of despair and impotent weakness: "It must get worse before it gets better!", used to justify all the horrors of capitalism, must finally be silenced. There is no more foolish view than this, which is advocated by some comrades, and according to which it is precisely the weakest beings who are supposed to be the most apt to revolt.
Reducing working hours, increasing wages, increasing the prosperity of the workers means effectively bringing about a revolution more quickly. The fighters, thinkers and organizers of the workers’ party are generally recruited from the hosts of the less enslaved, better paid workers.
The shortening of working hours is quite possible without harming national industry: our comrades in England have a nine-hour working day, the American workers who are employed in the state workshops work eight hours, or 48 hours a week. We can limit our demand for reduction in hours to these numbers for now, though for young workers of both sexes the limit must be 36 hours.
Physiological and social reasons determine us — excluding only exceptional cases of technical impossibility and then with the introduction of a compensation system — to demand the complete suppression of night work, and the elimination of work on Sundays and public holidays. —108— This measure will not reduce the productivity of the workforce. Rested muscle power is more effective than overtired, eight-hours of work will be just as efficient as 10 or 12 hours of work, as Thomas Brassen has shown, leading entire armies of labourers into the field to build railways in France, Austria, Canada and India.
The shortening of working hours will reduce production in certain industries; it will therefore make it possible to reduce the armies of the unemployed as well. But so that the shortening of working hours in pursuit of improvement of the situation of labour does not turn into a fraud, a minimum wage must be fixed each year in every workplace, imposed by workers’ commissions on the basis of the prices of the necessities of life. The worker will then receive as much as he costs, but not yet as much as he produces. The fixing of a minimum wage does not contradict, as some claim, the laws of commodity exchange.
In order to determine the price of products, the capitalist calculates quite correctly and precisely the fluctuating prices of raw materials and the necessary means of labour. Why should he not also take into account wages and the persons of the workers in his calculation in the same way? The commodity labour, like any other commodity, must have a price that can be set. The objection that the worker as buyer, as consumer, will lose the increase in wages he receives as producer is unfounded. An increase in wages certainly increases the price of all goods produced, but since these goods are only partly consumed by the proletariat and partly by the bourgeoisie, the former will only pay a fraction of the increased prices, say, for example, half. If the whole proletariat, as sellers of labour, received 50 million francs daily, and as consumers spend 25 million francs more due to increased prices, there is still an overall improvement of 25 million francs.
Furthermore, it is not true that wage increases will ruin national industry. One sees everywhere that capital is cosmopolitan and, in order to achieve a higher surplus value, cares very little about the fatherland and its interests. Its patriotic objections are simply dictated by its egoism. In addition, the industrialized countries with high wages dominate the world market: England, the United States. Furthermore, there are no national wage rates, but wages which vary depending on the setting.[b]
If one examines further the consideration according to which low wages are declared necessary in order to enable national industry to withstand foreign competition on the world market, it turns out that this tendency precisely destroys the concept of the fatherland for the worker. The main weapon in competition is cheap production and sale at cheap prices, even at the very lowest prices; and this again results in falsification of the raw materials, decreased quality of the commodities, and reduction of the value of the human labour which is crystallized in the product. This reduction is achieved either through the extensive use of mechanical forces, or through the exploitation of more and more poorly paid workers. The indispensable condition for the ability of national industry to beat foreign competition is, therefore, a constant increase in the misery of the proletarians: an increase in the unemployed, the displacement of men by women, women by children, low wages. The tender attention of the bourgeoisie to national industry makes the country that is their fatherland a country of misery for the proletarians. —109— It is a vale of tears and privation to them, lying at the foot of the golden hills which are the fatherland of capital. Bourgeois production destroys every fatherland through its own laws of life and allows only the world of capital and the world of labour to exist — regardless of the nation. If our patriots truly loved the fatherland, they ought to direct their attention to the well-being of all its children: but there is no question of that.
Incidentally, this "patriotic" counter-argument loses its last support if — as is the case — our demand is formulated by the workers of both hemispheres.
In addition to fixing working hours and a guaranteed wage rate, we demand that working spaces (factories, mines, offices, workplaces, workshops) are furnished in accordance with the laws of hygiene and are equipped with all protective devices for the life and health of the workers.
In order to implement all these preparatory and transitional measures, the proletarians can only count on themselves, although it sometimes happens that the internal, domestic pressures of the capitalist world feed into our cause.
The first commandment of necessity demands that the working masses be made aware of the scope of these demands so that they understand them. An easily understandable, energetic, concise manifesto, which the congress would need to have a commission edit and send to all countries, would significantly promote this work. The commission would have to give an opinion on the material means necessary for the publication and distribution of the manifesto. All the representatives of the party would then have to submit proposals to the bureaus of their respective members of parliament stating the reforms deemed necessary within a short period of time. All the speakers (agitators) of the workers’ parties would have to organize a campaign of meetings dealing with the subject. The trade unions and professional associations (chambres syndicales) would have to come to an agreement on joint action, and when this work is done submit a formal demand, which being sent on the same day and from all points of the world to the rulers of the bourgeois world would be of great scope and effectiveness.
In order to centralize this agitation and to orient the working class precisely, it is necessary to found an organ in the service of this movement, which could be edited by well-known champions of our cause. We are convinced that the Congress will study and resolve the question.
Time is of the essence: everywhere we see the signs of the decomposition that precedes every new formation and transformation. The military rule now showing its full might and awe will accelerate the collapse and bankruptcy of the capitalist world. The standing army, that school of bondage and suppression of the spirit, is the last bulwark of bourgeois rule, the weapon capital uses to hold down the workers, to destroy political freedom. We therefore demand the abolition of the standing armies and, in their place, direct arming of the people.
The army will then simply be a school which every man capable of military attendance goes through over a period of a few months in order to complete his training in the use of weapons. The youth would be prepared for this school through physical exercises, exercises in weapon handling, marching, topographical studies, etc. On leaving this school, the men organized as local reserve cadres would form an easily mobilized armed force, which would be just as difficult to use for wars of conquest and aggression as it would be invincible —110— in defensive fighting. Giving weapons into the hands of the proletariat means removing the power from exploitation, pulling its sting, it is the death stroke for international warfare: it is the guarantee of peace for all peoples, the guarantee of social emancipation.
The enormous development of the armed forces for war and the financial burdens connected with it make it necessary even for the bourgeoisie to proceed in the direction of our demands. The increase of the effective forces and the shortening of active service time work towards the organized arming of the people.
.All socialist parties agree with the demand for the abolition of standing armies, and that these should be replaced by general arming of the people. But what guarantee do the workers’ parties offer that nation that starts the revolutionary movement for an international approach based on solidarity? In our judgement, with regard to the development of the socialist idea and the development of the organization that is represented in social democracy, and in view of the rapid development of economic conditions, it will be Germany which leads off the revolutionary dance. What guarantee does international socialism offer socialist Germany? On the day it rises, it will see the coalition of capital of all Europe facing it, a true triple alliance: the alliance of interests. But on the same day it will also — this is our hope! — see the proletarians of both hemispheres rise to support the sublime movement of their German brothers!
As a pledge for this coalition of equality it is necessary now and henceforth to oppose the alliance of emperors and kings with the indissoluble union of the workers. May the congress give the German workers this guarantee, may it support the spread of this idea of the alliance of peoples, which is the fulcrum of the international politics of socialism. The bourgeois politicians have long enough sown hatred between nations; Let us at this Congress loudly proclaim the general solidarity of the interests of the proletariat, and let us tie the international bonds which bind peoples with one another ever more firmly everywhere and under all circumstances. Then, but only then, the workers will cease to be toys in the hands of their worst enemies and make themselves masters of their own fate.
The St. Floride Miners’ Syndicate takes the opportunity to offer its wishes to the international Congress in the face of the greed of capital which displays before the eyes of the starving all the riches which they have amassed to the detriment of the workers.
Our dear France has great resources, but also great distress. There is a sad difference between those who produce everything and have nothing and those who produce nothing and have everything. Our Chambre Syndicale of miners, who live in a valley basin on the borders of the Auvergne, belongs half to the department of Puy de Döme, and half to that of the Haute Loire. There, as elsewhere, it is the system of capital that undermines labour. It works in the following way: It has been two years since the Almighty von Creusot, who calls himself Schneider took 2 concessions, that of Cambelle and those of Bouxhors, which he wanted to unite with the mines of Grosménil. Meanwhile —111— the municipal authorities and the inhabitants of the sites prevented these attempts at merger, because they had recognized that as soon as there was one lord, the tyranny would only become greater and more unbearable. But Schneider did not consider himself defeated: “Oh, you want to get your own way, you slaves for sale, you don't want a fusion? Well, I, the owner, am shutting down my mines! You wanted to petition to prevent the merger, I will force you to petition to obtain it!” Maneuvering in this way has actually begun.
In the past year Cambelle was brought to a standstill, and on June 22nd of that year Bouxhors was also decommissioned. In one year 600 workers were plunged into the blackest misery and the whole area was destroyed. At the meeting there was a majority servile enough to approve of this indescribable act. But there is a dull pain in the workers' chests, and who can foresee what will happen on the day of the great struggle.
For nineteen years we have been tricked with lies, while our MPs have been haggling over their mandates. But things will change. The workers understand more and more that their liberation can only take place through their making of a revolution, and that in order to carry it out they must organize themselves as a definite, separate party according to the program of the Parti Ouvrier.
Citizens, a clamour rises from abroad, the hammer rings out on the anvil where weapons are forged. But it is not the people who call for their making; it is the tyrants of all countries who wish to plunge us into a fratricidal war, into a slaughter without equal, in order to be able to lay an even heavier yoke on us. But stop, gentlemen, the socialists will never tolerate that. For them there are no war, no borders; they have only companions in misery, brothers with the same sufferings and the same desires.
When the tyrants are gone, the rule of righteousness opens to all who suffer; one no longer forges weapons to kill people, but ploughs to feed them. Forward! The land for the farmers, the mines for the miners, the anvil for the blacksmith! On the day when all of this will be realized, the realm of man’s exploitation by man will come to an end. — Citizens! The comrades from the black country send the Congress a fraternal handshake. They tell the representatives of the universal proletariat that they can count on them.
In addressing this brief report to the Congress on behalf of the cotton spinners of Ghent, the rapporteur has the purpose not only of showing the urgent need to reduce working hours, but also of showing that there must be legal regulation of working hours in all countries.
For several years the number of unemployed has been growing terribly. The improvement of the machines oppresses the worker more and more every day; soon the machines and the perfection of their mechanism will replace the workers. What will happen if effective means are not soon used to improve the situation of the whole working class? Everyone who lives from his work, if he has any, must ask himself whether the situation of the workers can continue like this, and what will become of them in the time of the crisis that we are approaching?
Hence the question of personal interests preoccupies all minds. Not the pretensions of the priests, who more than ever dream of the omnipotence —112— of the Church to rule the world, nor the terrible danger of a European war, — nothing can arouse general attention and stir human passions more. Why? Because these events, even a war between a few million soldiers, bear no comparison with this other terrible war of life and death which the disinherited all over the world have started against the ruling classes, this gigantic battle which has been preparing for a long time and which will break loose sooner than we think.
French workers, workers of the United States, and the English demand that foreign workers be sent back. Everywhere the businessmen, the manufacturers, Governments, demand protectionist laws from their governments, which try to provide them. Competition is impossible in the face of unheard of protective tariffs and border tariffs.
Everywhere distress increases and with it the stagnation of trade and industry; on the other hand we see increasing numbers of tramps, criminals, the luckless starving men. Everywhere the same symptoms of impoverishment appear — as much in countries with small populations as in countries where the working population is crammed together like herrings in a barrel. Everywhere the same misery prevails for the worker — as much in republics as in monarchies, as much in the large states which waste their energies in waging war, as in the small states which do not — as much in the countries in which the citizen enjoys universal suffrage, as in the most despotic countries — as much where the church is separated from the state, as where catholic and other idlers live from the sweat of the people — as much where free and compulsory education prevails, as where the people rot in ignorance — as much where the consumption of alcohol is counted in litres by the head, as where this poison is forbidden. In warm climates and cold climates, the same symptoms everywhere, for everywhere in the whole world the same scourge exists for the worker: the capitalist system, which rules our society as its omnipotent lord.
We would go too far if we were to enumerate all the evils from which the working class, as a whole, suffers. We therefore limit ourselves to our trade as cotton weavers, to give some figures of undeniable truthfulness.
The number of working hours of our Ghent cotton spinners is from 69 to 74 hours a week. The wages are as follows:
| Setter-up (female) from 12-15 years old | 6 Francs per week |
| Setter-up (female) from 16-20 years old | 7-10 Francs per week |
| Setter-up (female) adult | 13-18 Francs per week |
| Spinner | 20-30 Francs per week |
| Carding girls from 11-15 years old | 2-5 Francs per week |
| Stretching girls from 11-15 years old | 8-12 Francs per week |
| Bench workers (adult) | 10-14 Francs per week |
| Workers on the doubling machine from 11-16 years old | 9-15 Francs per week |
| Carders (men) | 14-17 Francs per week |
| Carders (boys) | 10-12 Francs per week |
There are 5800 cotton workers, women and children included. However, there are more than 900 unemployed. Whenever the machine is perfected, men are replaced by women or children.
There is no law on child labour in Belgium. Many manufacturers require children to have had their first communion, without asking their age; so many parents are forced to have their first communion carried out well before the age customary elsewhere. The priest, out of fanaticism and in agreement with the capitalist, gives his consent under the pretext of saving a soul from hell. No sooner have the tender children set foot in the factory than the door —113— is shut on them only to open again when it is time for home; and these unfortunate ones are kept away from school, for the hours of work of these little beings are as long as those of the adults.
That is also the main reason why there are so many crippled people, so many ailing beings, in our industrial centres, why there are so many sick people, why so many epidemics break out, and in the blossom of their years our working population is snatched away to its death.
The cotton spinners of Ghent are therefore represented at the Congress with the deliberate intention of energetically helping to uproot the scourge of workers’ slavery, that necessary consequence of wage labour, so that we can achieve our ideal goal: to make the producers masters of the world.
The Socialist Syndicate of Lagresle is sending a delegate to the international congress to come to an understanding with the other worker representatives and to put themselves on the same footing as other workers, so that the wages of our poor workers who have long been exploited by the masters, that is, by the capitalist class, are raised again. The unity and solidarity of all workers must destroy these bosses, who use their money, i.e. their capital, to intimidate the workers and subject them to 15-18 hours of brutal labour at the cotton loom each day for a wage of 1.25 to 1.5 Francs. From this low wage you have to deduct 25 cents daily for the maintenance of the loom, which the worker has to pay for.
We inform our colleagues from other nations that in Lagresle and in the whole district of the above-mentioned syndicate we have carried through a small stoppage of work by the cotton hand-weavers, lasting ten days. If we have won it, it is thanks to our energy. We fully understand that if the workers do not act very forcefully to fight the masters, the police will not help them. Quite the contrary. Laws have been made governing the syndicates, but they are not being carried out for the benefit of the workers. All the socialist workers from the mountains of the Loire want a social democratic government to abolish the capitalist class.
In every country in Europe the bosses know how to oppress the poor martyrs known as proletarians. They take advantage of their work and health to indulge themselves in every pleasure, to lead a life of shameful debauchery. Is it not the exploiters who create and maintain prostitution with the profit squeezed out of the labour of their victims? The exploitation of labour by capital grows ever more.
In order to cure this state of affairs it is necessary that the governments of all countries fix as soon as possible, by law, the eight-hour working day, without lowering wages, as well as the complete suppression of subcontracting.
Too much prolonged or excessively sped up work not only leads to the ruin of the health of the worker, but the excessively prolonged work of some causes the unemployment of others. Furthermore it prevents —114— the worker from cultivating his intelligence, so impairing human dignity and the principle of brotherhood. It would only be fair if the undiminished proceeds of labour were returned to the worker who produces everything and even pays with his health. In anticipation of this, we at demand that at least wages should not be lowered when daily working hours are reduced. Only international workers’ organization, the forward march hand in hand of all proletarians, will give our just demands the force they deserve; united strength alone will help us to win our human rights.
This international organization of the workers is also the necessary precondition for the definitive liberation of the working class, which will take place when the working class is in possession of all the means of production. So the machine and the tool to the worker of the foundry and the workshop, and the land to the farm worker!
The rapporteur is delegated to this worthy congress to discuss the situation of the Mandore workers, who have long been exploited by the employers.
The cotton hand weaver of cottons is condemned to a daily working time of 14 to 15 hours, and that in a damp yard and for the low wages of 1 to 1.25 Francs. He finds it is absolute impossibile to support a whole family with this sum. It is hardly two months since the workers, as a result of these sad working conditions, were forced to declare a strike which, thanks to the energy and unity of the weavers, had a happy ending. In retaliation, the employers make the workers feel all their anger.
The weavers’ syndicate wants to unite with all French and foreign organizations by taking part in this Congress. It promises to cooperate in the event of a general strike for the purpose of demanding the rights of the workers of the whole world.
The movement among the Jewish workers of New York, as in the whole of America generally, dates back 6 to 7 years. It can be traced back to the mass immigration of Jewish craftsmen and petty bourgeois who fled from Russia (and are still fleeing) because of the unbearable political and economic conditions in that country — conditions which weight particularly on the Jewish population. The number of these immigrants increases from year to year, and it is they who form the very core and centre of the Jewish labour movement in America. This movement began — like every labour movement in America, incidentally — in the field of pure and simple trade union organization: reduction of working hours, increase in wages, in general improvement of the conditions of existence of the proletariat within the boundaries of capitalist society — these are the tendencies which the organizations in question initially pursued.
The movement emphasized organization as a means of attaining these goals, in order to be able to organize and carry out economic struggles, such as strikes,boycotts, etc. However, the failure —115— of the eight-hour movement of 1886 showed how impotent such endeavours must necessarily remain as long as trade union organizations are the only ones fighting for them. This failure was not only a declaration of the bankruptcy of the trade union organizations as an independent social power; it also announced to the proletariat the need to organize itself as an independent and strongly organized political party with the aim of being able to use political power as an effective weapon in the struggle for the emancipation of working people.
Aware of this fact, the Jewish workers took a relatively and absolutely large part in the movement initiated by Henry George — a movement which at its end amounted to nothing but a stock-exchange movement[c], but that at its beginning was a pure class movement .
The centre of the Jewish labour movement is in New York. In this city there exist a number of organizations, each of which has specific purposes, but which are all united in solidarity in the pursuit of general purposes, and which together make up the union of the Jewish trade unions. The following organizations form part of this association:
1) The Jewish branch of the Socialist Workers' Party of America.
This organization consists of a fairly large number of Jewish workers who are particularly active in propaganda for socialism among the mass of those who speak only dialect, and who are anxious to organize them economically and politically on the basis of a socialist program.
2) The Russian branch of the Socialist Workers’ Party of America. (Russian Socialist Club.)
This club has the same purpose, the only difference being that it is aimed at the Russian-speaking working-class population of New York. In addition, it is occupied in collecting material resources to support the revolutionary socialist movement in Russia.
3) The Pioneers of Freedom;
They form a fairly sizeable organization which is undertaking zealous agitation and propaganda in favour of socialism (to be sure somewhat toying with anarchism) among the Jewish workers. This organization publishes a weekly newspaper in Russian: “The Truth”.
4) The group "Snamia" (the flag).
The purpose of this organization is the publication and distribution of socialist literature in the Russian language. The group has a weekly paper: “Snamia”.
5) The Shirt Makers Union
This consists exclusively of Jewish male and female workers in linen factories. The purpose of this organization is not only the pursuit of objective interests, it is also active for the intellectual enlightenment and development of its members. It also works on agitation, by arranging popular assemblies in which socialist principles are explained to the workers in the various trades.
6) The Union of Jewish Typesetters;
This includes all Jewish typesetters in New York. It deserves notice because it exercises complete control over all of New York’s Jewish printing presses, although their number is relatively large.
7) The Union of Choristers.
8) The Union of Actors.
These two organizations recruit their members from among the choristers and actors of the Jewish theatres in New York. They have understood professionally that art has long since lost its privileged position; that in contemporary capitalist society the artists are paid slaves like all other workers; and that they can only defeat their enemy by joining the ranks of the fighting proletariat.
—116— 9) The Russian Musical Union.
A group of Russian and Jewish speaking musicians.
10) The Tailors' Association.
A very strong organization made up of Jewish tailors.
11) The Dress-makers Union
12) The Knickerbockers Makers Union
It consists of workers who are engaged in the manufacture of knickerbockers.
13) The Association of Mattress Makers.
14) The Association of Silk Ribbon Weavers.
The program of the Jewish trade unions, like that of the union of German trade unions with which they march hand in hand, has the principle of the class struggle as its foundation and cornerstone. They state that the suppression of the wage system through the removal of personal property and the socialization of all means of production and transport are the main goals of their endeavours.
The tactics of the association of Jewish trade unions and their practical activity correspond to the principles of this program, which must be recognized by all organizations which wish to join it.
In addition to the organizations mentioned, there are also groups among the Jewish workers in New York that are not attached to the association, such as:
All these organizations one way or another work with great zeal for the spread of socialism. It is common for half a dozen public meetings to take place on the same evening at various points in the Russian quarters of New York, where thousands of Jewish workers listen intently to the explanation of the new gospel. The representation of the organized Jewish proletariat at this congress is proof of how deeply the ideas of solidarity and brotherhood of the exploited of all countries have penetrated the heart of this proletariat.
The degree of success in the development of the class consciousness of all the Jewish working masses is shown by the fact that the Jewish capitalist organs, even the largest and most powerful, consider it necessary in the interests of their existence to dress themselves up more or less in socialist plumage.
The Glassworkers Chambre Syndicale has already attended two congresses, in Bordeaux and Troyes and laid out their minimum demands. The reports read out at these congresses and left with their bureau have been combined into a single one, which was sent to the socialist workers’ group of the Chambre a few days after the workers’ demonstrations of February 10th and 24th of this year. The Socialist MPs have formally promised to be the interpreters of these demands in Parliament, and we know they will keep their word. But everyone knows how the requests of the workers are treated by the ruling bourgeoisie. Suggestions are made, then buried in committees, which hide these suggestions at the bottom of their files to —117— to ensure that they do are not taken out again than until the topic is no longer current.
Despite the bad will of our managers, we do not give up our demands, and since it is impossible for us to bring our complaints and complaints to those in power, it is up to the working class, the united socialists, to whom we set out our wishes: To win public opinion to our side, which will accomplish what we are still denied today.
Since all corporations have to be represented at this Congress, each of them has the right to present their own demands, so that it becomes easier to express the reforms necessary for our industry in an agreed form. To give our demands more weight, to make the reforms that we are entitled to demand more justifiable — both to our daily exploiters and to the public authorities — it is good to expose the countless injustices of which we are victims. The corporation of glass workers is all the more right to formulate its demands sharply as they are subject to the worst working conditions, which are in blatant contradiction with the demands of the most elementary hygiene.
The work of the glass workers is carried out in a kind of collective, which consists of 12 to 16 people and is called a “place”.
Now, if a worker needs to slow down the grueling activity which he has to carry out in our profession, whether as a result of burns, sickness, weakness, etc., he cannot; his work is so dependent on that of the whole “place”, that he cannot one day be less active than another, and that under working conditions which are like those of galley slaves.
So it happens that the glassworker is completely worn out between the ages of 40 and 50 — unable to continue his profession, and what is even worse: to take on another. In addition, the fact that after 15 to 20 years of activity in our trade muscular strength has waned, and the eyesight is also weakened, burned by the embers of our stoves, which, heated up to 1,800 degrees, adds a new torment to our predicament.
This general sketch of our situation will make it clear how urgently it is needed for the public authorities to decide in favour of labour legislation which will put an end to the outrageous abuse which is daily practiced in our glassworks.
We also want to talk about night work and child labour in our industry, especially in the Seine and Seine et Oise departments.
The composition of the “places” allows the use of children who are employed in large numbers.
The legal regulations on child labour are just dead letters for our employers, and in the big kilns that serve as workshops there are numerous little unfortunates under 12 years of age. As for lessons for these poor little ones, they take place in conditions that are perhaps more harmful to them and their health than invigorating and beneficial. There are even glassworks where no school is held for the children, and there are those where only one class is set up and where after daily labour of 12-14 hours the children study for 2 hours. So this makes 14-16 hours of work a day. And that is not all! Since the children go to school after the day’'s work, it often happens — we can even say: always — that they are completely sweaty, and since they have no opportunity to change their clothes, the sweat dries out of them as they move. And what kind of work these little pariahs do!
—118— To tell the truth, it is convict labour that we are forced to do, from the youngest to the oldest.
But apart from the unhealthy, debilitating nature of our work, we also have to endure night work, which is all the more unbearable since it is not possible for us to make up for the great exhaustion of energy that this smelting requires in the normal way. Judge for yourselves! The average number of working hours required by our employers is 12 out of 24. A kind of rota has now been set up for day and night work, such that we have to work both day and night by doing the same hours of work in each twelve hour period. So we never have more than 6 hours to rest, from which we have to deduct the time necessary for the journey between the glassworks and our place of residence, and the time necessary for our meals and cleaning, etc.!
These, citizens, are — to put it briefly — our working conditions, to which boys from 11-15 years are also subjected.
Do you not believe, like us, that the public authorities have to pass protective laws — if not for us, who are men, and so able to break our chains when we are conscious of our rights and our strength, — but for those children delivered up to the most ferocious capitalist exploitation?
Strong in the knowledge of our rights, assured of the support of all workers and socialists, we therefore demand as measures to be implemented immediately:
We repeat, these are our minimum requirements. As for our aims and aspirations, we think, in unison with all delegates, that final and complete liberation must be our only aspiration, the only solution for our needs, and the only goal worthy of us.
-a. The German is gruppenBildung nach Fachvereinen but the French is le groupement syndicale.
b. The French has: des salaires variable selon les milieux. The German translator appears to have misread the word 'milieux' and translated this as sondern in jedem Land verschiedenartige, je nach den Durchschnitten . . ., 'different salaries in each country, depending on the averages. . .' (ellipsis in the original).
c. The French has: mouvement qui à la fin attendait exclusivement au “hoodle” (bourse), where bourse is a translators’ explanation of the (yiddish?) word hoodle. The German translation is Börsenbewegung. This is presumably a reference to Henry George's increasing emphasis on free trade as a panacea.