THE INTERNATIONAL IN LONDON.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 53, 27 January 1872, Page 9

THE INTERNATIONAL IN LONDON.

The "Pall Mall Gazette" says : " Some curious information as to the recent doings of the International in London is furnished by the London correspondent of the "Cologne Gazette." A secret conference of delegates from all nations was summoned to meet in London last month, with the object of establishing a more effective organization of the society, and of more strictly defining its policy. The first sitting took place on the 17th of September. Three delegates from Germany, two from Switzerland, five from Belgium, one each from Spain, Ireland, Hungary, Italy, and Russia, and four from England, and seven from France were present, making a total of twenty-six. There are 180,000 enrolled members of the society in England alone, each of whom pays about twopence a year to the common fund, which thus secures £750 a-year. Among the resolutions passed at the conference was one forbidding the union or incorporation with the International of any political society, another directing the formation of " sections of female workers," and a third directing the conference to refute the accusation made at the great Nihilist trial in Russia, to the effect that the Netchayeff conspiracy was got up by the International. It appeared from the statements of the French delegates that in several French towns, owing to the communist revolution in Paris, the International had been totally swept away, while in others it flourished more than ever. It was accordingly decided that in future a special general council should be formed in France, to which all the local councils in that country should send their reports, and which should be entrusted with the task of reorganising the French sections which had been scattered by the war. An appeal to the French workmen and workwomen to join the International was also to be issued. The Russian delegate urged that his country should be specially taken into consideration by the conference, ' for there is no country which affords so excellent a field for the spread of socialist doctrines as the Russian Empire, and nowhere are the students so ripe for revolution. One thing only is to be feared—that they will allow themselves to be seduced into secret conspiracies.' 11 was accordingly decided that a special appeal should be addressed to the Russian students and workmen. In the debates which followed, strong condemnation was passed upon all secret political societies, on the ground that ' they are fatal to the independent spirit of the workman, promote espionage, and stifle all healthy and popular aspirations.' The question whether the International should interfere in politics was also warmly discussed. A French delegate urged that the society would gain its ends far better by a revolution than by any political action in parliaments ; a Swiss observed that his opinion was the very reverse of this, as he thought much more could be obtained by the action of members of the International in a parliament than by a revolution ; and a Belgian, though agreeing with the last speaker, added that he doubted whether a working man, even if he succeeded in getting into parliament, would ever be listened to. The President of the Conference then said that " political supre-

macy can only be obtained by political agitation; and that it was by such agitation that the English workmen got their Factory Acts, while France only obtained the twelve hours' labor law by the sanguinary revolution of 1848. That law, moreover, was abrogated directly the revolution was over; but in England no concession once obtained by the workmen on the field of politics has ever been withdrawn. He, therefore, thought it of the utmost importance that as many workmen as possible should be elected for all the different European Parliaments. To wait for a revolution would be useless, for revolutions are usually made by one section of the ruling class against another, and. their only result is that the existing Government is succeeded by a worse one. ' Hitherto the weight of all political power has been in the hands of the capitalists and the landowners, who oppress the woikmen. A political war must be declared against this coalition. The forces which are led against the workmen are capital and land; it is against these that the people must fight, and they can only do so with success if they will conquer for themselves a certain amount of political power.' This speech convinced the conference, and a resolution was passed, after which it separated, having sat for nine days."