INTERNATIONALE, THE. 



413 



sterling, should be the only paid officer. The 

 Congress drew up a plan for laborers' statis- 

 tics, which has been carried out by the society ; 

 the various branches prepare statistical state- 

 ments and send them to the General Council, 

 the latter working them up into a general re- 

 port, and publishing them from time to time. 

 In a majority of 50 to 10 votes, the Congress 

 expressed itself as in favor of a legal restric- 

 tion of the day's labor to eight hours. They 

 also voted that night labor should only be per- 

 mitted in exceptional cases, and in certain speci- 

 fied lines of business, hoping that thus it might 

 gradually be suppressed entirely. They lim- 

 ited the labor of young people and children 

 of both sexes, as a rule, to a certain number 

 of hours, and declared that no father or em- 

 ployer should be entitled to make use of youth- 

 ful labor, otherwise than in connection with 

 education. The foundation of the Interna- 

 tional had attracted the attention of the au- 

 thorities, and it was looked upon by them as 

 their enemy ; the Geneva Congress, however, 

 was the crisis from which the most extensive 

 persecutions dated. The Paris Siecle was the 

 only one of the larger journals which had 

 hitherto noticed the society ; but the London 

 Times, and many of the principal English, 

 French, and German journals, sent their re- 

 spective reporters to the next Congress, which 

 was held in Lausanne, from the 2d to the 8th 

 of September, 1867. The Manchester Exam- 

 iner, John Bright's organ, pronounced it an 

 important epoch in history. Sixty-four dele- 

 gates were present at this Congress, twenty- 

 five representing German sections, and Eugene 

 Dupont, delegate from the French section in 

 London, was elected to the presidency; the 

 most important events were the reports of the 

 individual sections and united societies, in re- 

 gard to the growth and success of the society. 

 The Peace Congress, with Garibaldi at its 

 head, was then assembled in Geneva, and the 

 Congress of the International sent expressions 

 of its approval of the Peace Alliance and its 

 efforts in the interests and for the preservation 

 of peace. The formation of the International 

 exerted a powerful influence upon the English 

 Trades Unions, who had hitherto confined 

 themselves to the conflict concerning wages 

 and the time of labor. But the International 

 led them to understand that no success could 

 be possible in the labor question without inter- 

 national union. The "Trades Council," the 

 London central authorities of the Trades 

 Unions in England, therefore effected an alli- 

 ance with the General Council of the Inter- 

 national, in accordance with which the stand- 

 ing secretary of the former was created a 

 member of the latter. At a conference of the 

 delegates of all the " Trades Unions " of Eng- 

 land, held in Sheffield, in 1866, all the societies 

 there represented were urgently advised to 

 join themselves to the International. The 

 English Trades Unions have since then taken 

 part in the political movement. 



During the years 1866-1868, the Interna- 

 tional found many opportunities for exerting 

 power in social affairs, by means of its organi- 

 zation. The principal cases were the closing 

 of the bronze workshops in Paris in February, 

 1867, the Geneva strike in the spring of 1868, 

 and the conflict between the Belgian Govern- 

 ment and the miners in the district of Charle- 

 roi, in March, 1868 ; the first two ended victo- 

 riously for the workmen. The third Congress 

 was held at Brussels in September, 1868, at 

 which were present delegates from England, 

 France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, 

 and Spain ; the subjects of discussion were 

 war, strikes, machines, instruction, credit, and 

 the limitation of the hours of labor. In regard 

 to the social conflicts which occurred in 

 France from 1868 to 1869, the International 

 has always denied their instigation. The so- 

 cial-democratic movement was at this time 

 organized in Germany, and the Congress of 

 the Social Democrats at Eisenach in August, 

 1869, where 263 delegates represented 150,000 

 laborers, adopted the programme of the Inter- 

 national. The law, however, forbade annexa- 

 tion to a foreign corporation ; it was therefore 

 determined that the members should belong 

 individually to the International, and the cen- 

 tral committee in Braunschweig act at the 

 same time as central committee for the Inter- 

 national. The fourth Congress, at Basle, in 

 September, 1869, was attended by delegates 

 from America, Belgium, England, France, Ger- 

 many, Spain, Italy, and Switzerland. During 

 1869 and 1870 the labor movement became 

 more widely extended, and the largest strike 

 occurred in Le Creuzot; although this was 

 not brought about by the International, yet it 

 received support from the latter, and the con- 

 sequence was, a more energetic persecution of 

 the International in France. The Austrian 

 Social Democrats had also connected them- 

 selves with the society at the close of 1868, 

 and were represented in the Congress at Basle ; 

 but the Austrian organs, the Vollcsstimme 

 and the Gleichheit, having published its res- 

 olutions, were suppressed, and the delegates 

 imprisoned. The fifth Congress should have 

 met at Paris in September, 1870, but was in- 

 terrupted by the German-French "War. The 

 International was deeply interested in the 

 struggles of the Paris Communists, many of 

 its members belonging to the government of 

 the Commune; it denies having called the 

 struggle into life, but it encouraged it and 

 sympathized with its aims. The society re- 

 peatedly expressed sympathy for France, after 

 the declaration of the republic, and, upon the 

 conquest of the Commune, the General Coun- 

 cil published a pamphletj written by Charles 

 Marx, to vindicate the actions of the Commune, 

 Members of the society in other countries, es- 

 pecially in Germany and the United States, 

 have also shown their approval of the Com- 

 mune. 



The International continued to increase in 



