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THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY.This great socialist society has recently held a conference of its members in London. We find some particulars of the proceedings at this meeting given in the Cologne Gazette from a correspondent in the English metropolis:—“ The meeting of September was held in con sequence of a resolution arrived at in July. In that month the committee, which consists of men of all nations, and is presided over by Herr Karl Marx, recognised the necessity of convening a general council of the League in London. The Congress, which was to have been held in 1870, had been prevented by the war, and as the various Governments, as well as public opinion, were not particularly favourable to the society since the deeds of the Paris Commune, a secret conference appeared even now preferable to a great and more demonstrative reunion. Accordingly, each country which rejoices in the possession of a branch society was invited to depute a certain number of representatives to London. To protect the members from disagreeable consequences after their return home, the debates were to be secret. In conformity with this programme, the first sitting was held on Sunday, the 17th of September, at five p.m. The exact locality need not be specified. There were present three German deputies, two Swiss, five Belgians, seven Frenchmen, four Englishmen, one Spaniard, one Irishman, one Hungarian, one Italian, and one Russian. Of this total of 26, six had been appointed by the Central Committee out of its own body. As the Central Committee consists of 15 members, there remained after this delegation of six nine others, who were permitted to attend the meeting, though they had no rignt to vote. For accuracy’s sake it may not be superfluous to relate that the powers of the deputies were carefully examined in the first sitting, after which* two secretaries were elected to keep the minutes and perform similar duties. Herr. Marx opened the proceedings with the declaration that the present meeting having been convened in consequence of the extraordinary state of things which had recently supervened, it was called upon to advise the central committee, but had no right to appoint a new committee or to modify the fundamental laws of the society. The action of the meeting, he said, was necessarily restricted to laying down a new policy within the limits of the existing organisation ; and they would also have to discuss the means and the tactics by which the end in view could be best accomplished. This declaration, or, more properly spealdng, motion, on the part of Herr Marx was, after the disposal of some objections, adopted by the Assembly. In addition to this, several other motions prepared beforehand were introduced by the permanent committee. The most important of these motions were the following:—“ ‘ 1. Branch societies will henceforth have to hand over their annual contributions to the Central Committee at the beginning of the year for which they are due. Exceptions to be tolerated only in the case of societies forbidden by law from holding meetings. The contributions amount to about one groscnen—l^d.—per member per year. If theInternationale has really 180,000 members m England, as is alleged, its revenue from Great Britain alone accordingly shews a figure of £750.“‘2. The members for France and those other countries in which the League bas been disturbed by the persecution of the police, are to adopt the most appropriate means for reorganising it. The League, however, is to be a separate body, entirely distinct from any of the existing secret societies. (This proviso refers to the political societies established by Mazzini and others, and still flourishing in’ Italy, Russia, and elsewhere.)“ ‘ 3. The Central Committee to submit to the meeting an account of its activity since the Basle Congress.“ * 4. A new edition of the rules of the League to be made in the English, German, French, Italian, and Spanish languages. The statutes adopted at the Basle Congress to be likewise published in a polyglott edition.“ *5. The branch societies to be directed to establish female sections similar to those formed by the wives of the silk weavers at Lyons, and the watchmakers at Geneva.“ * 6. The meeting to draw up a memorandum intended to invalidate and rebut the attacks of Continental Governments. The memorandum to be published by the Central Committee after the return home of the Continental members.“ ‘ 7. The meeting to protest against the accusation preferred by the Russian authorities, that the Netchayeff conspiracy has been fomented by the Internationale. (The fact was admitted by the conspirators themselves at the recent trial at St. Petersburgh.) ’“ Of the above motions, that relating to the annual payments was first discussed. After prolonged deliberation the Central Committee were empowered to print stamps similar to those issued by the Post Office, to be given to the members as a receipt on payment of subscriptions. The stamps, which will have the year of issue printed upon them, are to be gummed on the certificates of membership, as proof of the subscription having been paid. Certificates without the stamps are null and void. Stamps to be sent to the branch societies by the Central Committee, and those unsold, with the money received for those sold, to be transmitted to London by March 1. Any member who has not paid his contribution up toiihat date to be declared a deserter at the next Congress. Even more time was devoted to the question of reorganisation. Of the resolutions arrived at on this head the following only admit of being published at this early date. In some French towns the Intemationale was entirely swept away in consequence of the Communistic rising at Paris; inothers it seems to have gained ground after that event. The more rapidly to revive the society in that country the meeting determined to Establish a central committee in France and to clothe it with the authority of directing the action of the local branches. The latter, therefore, instead of communicating direct with the London Committee as heretofore, will henceforth address themselves to the French Central Committee, who in their turn will put themselves in correspondence with the London Committee. A proclamation is to be sent out to the French labouring population of both sexes, to request their patronage for the Internationale, and to caution them against establishing or joining secret olitical societies on the model of the Car-onari. Special attention was paid to Russia. According to what_ the Russian member asserted, there was no country in the world so well prepared for the reception of Communistic doctrine as his own. The students, more particularly, being very poor, were inclined to identify themselves with the proletariate. The only thing to apprehend was their engaging in useless conspiracies, which benefited no one, but usually ended in costly sacrifice pf life and liberty. In consequence of this information a special address to the students and working men of Holy Russia was drawn up, directing their^ attention to Socialism, and teaching them to regard it as the sole panacea for their sufferings. In the course of these debates Herr Marx delivered a characteristic speech against secret political societies. He said :—r‘ Leagues la Mazzini fancied they were pursuing a worthy object when striving for the overthrow of a Government, and its replacement by some other1 similar concern. But it was no use to substitute one bureaucracy for another. To adopt such a course was to invest Government with a sort of mystic power and to deaden the feeling of independence in the people. As to Mazzini, more particularly, he had the additional weakness of believing in God, and if he had the power, would be sure to proclaim himself Pope.' This speech was the signal for an animated discussion as to whether the Internationale was to assert its influence in the fieffi of politics. One of the French Deputies gave it as his opinion that if the Internationale refrained from intermeddling with politics, it had nothing to fear from the Government of his country. This opinion was opposed by another French Deputy, who asserted that the only way to check the hostility of the French Government was by intimidation. A third French Deputy , said that the French working men were in the habit of regarding thegolitical and social questions of the day as inseparable, and e could not expect much of the Internationale if it insisted upon keeping the two things asunder. After these and other representatives had said their say, Herr Marx rose to impart his ideas. He admitted that the September rebellion in France had been greatly promoted by Socialists keeping aloof from the ordinary politics of the day. At the same time it was equally true that, when the rising did come, the previous abstention of the Socialists led to the formation of a Government chiefly consisting of Bonapartists and spies. It was the backwardness of tne working classes which had enabled MM. Favre, Gambetta, and Co. to set themselves up as rulers of France. Political influence could be obtained only by political agitation. By recognising this truth and acting upon it, the English working classes had exacted the factory laws ; whereas France had to go through many a bloody rebellion before she secured the Twelve-hour Bill, and, after all, was not able to retain it. In England, where working men took an active interest in politics, they had never lost an inch of ground when once acquired. He therefore could not hut advocate the return of working men to the various Representative Assemblies of Europe. By waiting for revolution the working classes would run the risk of seeing one portion of their enemies turned out merely to make way for another equally hostile. Hitherto power had been chiefly vested in capitalists and landed proprietors; to take it from them: was the proper task of working men, and this could be only effected by the acquisition of political power.’ These arguments made a profound impression upon the meeting, and political agitation was resolved upon. All the other motions of the Central Committee were likewise adopted. In conclusion, a committee was organised for the collection of statistical intelligence—a task to be carried on with the help of paid assistants. The sittings lasted nine days, and wound up with a banquet.A Foreign Criticism.—The JSTord, of Brussels, remarks:—“The manner in which the London papers have received the demands put forth by the miners assembled in a Conference at Merthyr Tydfil shews that in England purely economical and social questions receive far more serious attention than they do in a neighbouring country whose institutions are, nevertheless, based upon universal suffrage. In whatever manner the phenomenon may be explained, it is certain that in aristoeratio England everything which relates to the well-being, the education, and to what may be called the humanisation of the masses is at the present time attracting the attention of all parties, while in France social problems are systematically put aside as inopportune and insoluble. The English are |in no great hurry to change the political institutions of tne country, and m any case they perceive that in order to modify them with advantage to the nation it is necessary first to alter the conditions of existence of the masses. The French, on the other hand, seem to be always persuaded that any change in political institutions must lead to a corresponding alteration in the moral and material conditions of existence of the nation. That shews how it is that reformers of the two nations can never agree, and it is interesting to observe that French Socialists who have landed in England are obliged to admit that the operations of the French propaganda in no degree meet the necessities of the situation in London ana the great manufacturing centres of Great Britain. .
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Sun and Central Press
London, Middlesex, GB
Wed, Oct 11, 1871
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