THE INTE1NAT1ONA.L.* A Fuesal101ag, as a rule, and if lie
can, begins at the beginning, and consequently, no one should ha surprised to find, on the threshold of a history of the International, the usual references to John of Leyden, Babceaf, Saint Simon, and Fourier, followed by a dissertation on workmen's associations, and on the varied efforts made by Frenchmen, not only to improve the status and augment the profits of the workmen, but to reform the whole human race, and establish the universe itself, so far as man is concerned, on a now footing. It is as impossible not to regard these enthusiasts with genuine sympathy, as it is to perceive that, unhappily, their exertions are mainly based on the assumption that human nature is something different from what it is ; and that if co-operative movements, small or large, are to succeed, they must contrive to accommodate themselves to the strengths as well as the weak- nesses of humanity. Man's strongest tendency is to preserve his own existence, and next, to acquire something that he may not only call his own, but employ at his discretion ; and if he gives up aught for the good of individuals or of the State, nothing is more certain than that he wishes to do it with his own consent. Unless this instinctive acquisitiveness were allowed moderately full play, is it at all probable that production would be equally great? But we must not allow the interesting chapters of M. Villetard to carry us off into the region of discussion. The object of his book is to relate the history of the International, and if he lays his founda- tions deep, we may perhaps he permitted to approach the structure when it emerges from the ground.
Combinations of workmen are not new in the history of States ; they have long subsisted in England and on the Continent ; the novelty lies in the extent to which they have been developed, and the prospect—or shall we say simply possibility, of a further extension, until Europe and America present to the eyes of statesmen and economists a system of affiliated Trades' Unions. The conditions favourable to the growth of such an organization are of modern origin,—they arc the spread of education among the poor, the immense increase of industrial and commercial transactions, and, above all, that facility of intercourse which has sprung up within the last quarter of a century. Whether the obstacles to a world-wide organization of workmen—diversities of race, of language, of political and religious beliefs—can be overcome is a question that the next hundred years may answer ; hut, at pre- sent, these obstacles plainly exert a greater force than the facilities of travel or the relative progress of education. More- over,—the history of the International shows it,—there is a tendency to divert these associations from industrial to political purposes, from the original scheme, which contemplated improve- ment, in the status of the workman, to fundamental changes in the essence and framework of society ; and it is not at all unlikely that this tendency towards violently subversive methods will prove the strongest of all obstructions to the spreading of a network of workmen's associations over two continents.
The International, according to M. Villetard, had its origin in the visit of French workmen to the Exhibition of 1862. The Emperor Napoleon encouraged this fraternal visit, apparently in the hope not only that the French would learn something from their comrades, but that, like the Treaty of Commerce, the inter- course begun in this festive fashion would help to establish a French influence here that would be useful as a political engine in critical times. The workmen, as may be remembered, were warmly received and hospitably feted; the English read an address to their brethren in which were foreshadowed a fraternal alliance, a union of workmen. "Let us hope," they said, "that since we have shaken hands and have seen that as men, as citizens, and workmen, we have the same aspirations and the same interests, we shall not allow our fraternal alliance to be broken by those who may think it their interest to see us disunited ; let us
hope that some means of international communication may be
found, and that each day will form a new link in the chain of love which shall unite the labourers of the world." M. Villetard not unreasonably calls this document the birth-certificate of the Inter- national. No formal step, however, was taken to found a society.
* //tease cte ristraa4saiste. Par Eli:load VIIIetard, Rticlactear Ca fourna? des .73010e*. Pali% Many of the French workmen, sent to London wholly or partially at the expense of the State, remained here, and, of course, began and sustained a close correspondence with their fellows at home. The laws of France did not admit of organization like our Trades' Unions, for authority weighed heavily on the French ouvrier, and kept him in loading-strings; but in 1861 the Emperor thought it prudent to lift off a little of the pressure, the " loi sur lee coali- tions" was adopted by 222 to 33; and in September of the sense year au International meeting was held in St. Martin's Half, whereat the bases of the new Society were laid down. The con-
stitution of societies in France and elsewhere followed immediately, and the International rapidly became at once a power and a bugbear; a power, because it really gave more unity and consist- ency, yet still in a very limited degree, to the efforts of workmen upon the European labour market ; a bugbear, because it frightened unduly landed proprietors and capitalists and employers of all kinds. The original design of the International was to give effect to what is called solidarity between the workmen of every coun- try; in other words, to secure, so far as it can be secured by that method, not only higher wages, but a share in the profits of capital. The subjection of the workman to Capital, a grim tyrant, was declared to be the source of his political servitude, and from
this the workman wise to be emancipated by a successful war
against the common enemy. The vulgar, common, practical aim of the International was that of the Trades' Union, the maintenance and increase of the rate of wages. There can be but little doubt that the "practical English," who do not escape the sneers of M. Ville- tard, were captivated by the idea of a mighty Trades' Union which would relieve them from the dread of foreign workmen during periods of strike ; but the French associates in the enterprise, as he sharply points out, soon enlarged the scope of a design which Karl Marx has carried into the regions of ideal communists. The International, begun in London in 1832, was not finally established until 1866, at the Geneva Congress, where the " pact° fundamental" was adopted.
Varlin, an influential leader on the French Bide, gives an account of the labours of 1806, and one sentence reminds us forcibly of the germinal alliance between Tory lords and working-men
just come to light. In fine, he writes, "the International set up,
against the political lacabrations of Cabinets the economical pro- gramme of the Geneva Congress." Substitute Hugh enden for.
Geneva, and we have a fair description of the Scott Russell coali- tion. The Commune, bombarded out of Paris, reappears in Belgravia and Park Lane, and Karl Marx is thrown into the shade by the avatar of the Right Honourable Benjamin Disraeli, —perhaps not the least remarkable consequence of the Bonapartist delegation of French workmen in 1862 to form fraternal relations with the English Trades' Unions.
M. Villetard, employing documents produced by members of the International, traces the growth of this singular body, and the gradual enlargement of its scope as a politico-social power, work- ing a little by sustaining strikes, working much by spreading. radically communistic ideas. In fact he demonstrates the identity of the French leaders of the International with the famous Central Committee and Commune of Paris daring the two sieges. But he also shows how much disunion there really was in the show of union, and how the hostilities within those bodies were as profound as those within the Convention. As an agency for sustaining strikes the International has hitherto displayed little efficacy, not having at its command resources at all equal to any one of the great English Unions. It is not formidable to "capital" on that side of its character, and makes up for the shallowness of its purse by the energy and recklessness of its propagandism.
We cannot imagine the International to be dangerous in Eng- land,—perhaps it is even useful as an irritant ; but in France it may lead to disturbances, not only because logical Frenchmen go. great lengths in search of an ideal social state, bub because all French parties are intolerant of discussion, and are worse, in that respect, than the English Government under the R,egeney. The influence of the International lies in vagueness and secrecy, an influence which cannot be sustained or far-reaching in the glaring publicity of English political life.
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