BELGIUM. 



:.<! l>y Franco in its objections to the right 

 .:v|i. obtained an extension of the period 

 I for ntlillrjiliuii. Separate conventions 

 i.\ 1'Yaiice iiiul Portugal and tin- Coup) 

 regulate- Ili- rat.-- of duties, in tin-* 

 basin (see COM;O KKKK STATK). 

 Socialist Labor Congreiw. The first n--u- 

 i.nveiied Internationa] Trade I'nion Con- 

 gran, open to all nation^, was held at the I'aris 

 Labor K\. -hange in issii. It had been preceded 

 by a conference of labor representatives from 

 ly, Spain, and England, where the 

 project of holding a congress was discussed and 

 unproved. In 1888 the second congress took 

 in London, and it was there decided to 

 meet again in the following year at Paris during 

 the World's Fair. This third congress was or- 

 ganized by the French Possibilists, and was 

 attended by the English Trade Unionists and 

 the English Socialists. A heated discussion 

 n the ipiestion of fusing with the Marxist 

 Socialists, who had organized a separate inter- 

 national labor congress, in which 83 German 

 Socialists, including several members of the 

 Reichstag, took part. The main feature of the 

 l'os>ibilist congresses had been the harmony and 

 co-operation of Socialists with Trade Unionists 

 and other non-Socialistic bodies. Anxious to 

 preserve this alliance, the Possibilists had en- 

 acted rules that were designed to prevent the 

 congresses from being swamped by delegates 

 from a multitude of Socialist bodies and com- 

 mitted to principles unacceptable to the numer- 

 ous working-men's associations in Great Britain 

 that are opposed to Socialism. The rules were 

 these: (1) ho society can be represented at any 

 of the congresses unless it has been in existence 

 for a full year previous ; (2) the delegates of 

 each nationality shall judge of the bona fide 

 character of the societies of their own country 

 seeking to be represented and pass upon the cre- 

 dentials of their countrymen ; (3) vote in the 

 congress shall be taken by nations, the majority 

 of delegates from each country deciding what 

 its vote shall be on each motion ; (4) all questions 

 to be discussed shall be communicated to the 

 organizing committee in time to be printed and 

 sent around to all the societies participating in 

 the congress at least six weeks before it assem- 

 bles. It was the refusal of the Marxists to assent 

 to these rules that prevented the two congresses 

 from uniting in 1889. The Belgian delegates 

 gave an invitation to the Possibilists to hold 

 their next congress at Brussels in 1891 under 

 the auspices of the Belgian Labor party. This 

 invitatioji was accepted, and the Belgian organi- 

 zation undertook to act as a correspondence 

 bureau to unite all parties during the intervening 

 two years. The Marxists arranged to hold a 

 congress in 1NU1 in Switzerland. 



Without the consent or knowledge of the Eng- 

 lish trade bodies, the Belgian committee resumed 

 negotiations for a fusion with the Marxists, and 

 persuaded the Swiss committee to give up the 

 plan of organizing a separate congress ; but to 

 obtain this result it was necessary to abandon 

 the four rules. The English Labor Electoral 

 ',-ition. representing a large number of the 

 strong and active trade unions of England, at 

 its annual convention unanimously adopted a 

 motion that the societies present should go to 



the Brussels congress, but insist when they got 

 there that the rules laid down by the PoMUMUft 

 congress should !* carried out. Previous to 

 that, and before the negotiation* for a union with 

 tin- Marxists were made known, the annual Con- 

 gress of British Trade I'nions at Liverpool had 

 voted to take part in the Hrus-ds congress, and 

 instructed the Parliamentary Committee to take 

 every means in its power to make the congress a 

 success. When fully informed of the change in 

 the purpose and organization of the congress, 

 the Parliamentary Committee met and agreed 

 that under the altered circumstances they were 

 not bound by the Liverpool vote to send repre- 

 sentatives to Brussels, and that they would ab- 

 stain. The very name of the congress was cal- 

 culated to keep away English trade unionists, 

 except the New Unionists, who have imbibed 

 Socialistic principles; for it was no longer the 

 International Working-men's Congress, but the 

 International Socialist Working-men's Congress. 

 Moreover, the date was changed from Aug. 18 to 

 Sunday, Aug. 16, which was inconvenient to 

 Englishmen, because they would have to lose a 

 part of the previous week s work, and objection- 

 able to many of them for religious reasons. The 

 following list of subjects was announced as the 

 agenda of the Congress : 



(1) The present condition of the laws protecting 

 workers from the national and international point of 

 view, and the means to be employed to render such 

 laws more effective. 



(2) The right of coalition, how is it secured ? The 

 international aspect of strikes, boycotting, and the 

 trade-union movement 



(3) What is the position and duty of the working 

 classes with respect to militarism ? 



(4) The attitude which the organized workers of 

 all countries should assume with regard to the Jewish 

 question. (Proposed by the American Union of 

 Workers speaking the Hebrew language.) 



(5) How parliamentarism and universal suffrage 

 can be utilized to the advantage of the Socialist 

 workers' cause. The tactics which should be em- 

 ployed so as to bring about the emancipation of the 

 workers, and the means by which this can lie realized. 

 (Dutch proposal.) 



(6) On the alliance of workmen's Socialist parties 

 with the middle-class political parties. 



(7^ On the suppression of piece work. 



(8) The 1st of May international celebration to be 

 consecrated to the principle of the eight-hour work- 

 ing day and the international regulation of labor, to- 

 gether with the universal affirmation to be made by 

 the proletariat in favor of the maintenance of peace 

 among all nations. 



(9) Adoption of a general and uniform designation 

 to indicate all the Labor parties in the world. (The 

 Central Revolutionary* Committee of Paris proposes 

 "The International Socialist Party." The Belgian 

 workmen's partv proposes " The International Social- 

 ist Workmen's "Party.") 



(10) Serious and practical organization : (a) Inter- 

 national correspondence between workmen j (ft) uni- 

 versal working-eloss statistics; <<) international un- 

 derstanding between workers of all trades, to be 

 seen red by the creation in each nation of a ^ymlicul 

 committee and of an International s\ lulieul tor tnulc- 

 union) cummittee; i./i by the regular communication 

 of different information, and by means of an interna- 

 tional Socialist almanac, translated into several lan- 

 guages and appearing annually; (e) by Socialist 

 propaganda ana agitation in all countries. 



(Hi Projxwal to holil the next International Cn- 



:_'rc-s in CUoaffO in 1898, and an International dem- 

 onstration in that tn\n. Pcsignution of the next 

 International Socialist Workmen's Congress. 



