inaugural adress of the international working men’s association_Εναρκτήρια ομιλία...

7/22/2019 Inaugural adress of the International Working Mens Association_

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Inaugural Address

of the International Working Mens Association

The First International

Written:October 21-27, 1864;

First Published:Printed as a pamphlet inInaugural Address and

Provisional Rules of the International Working Mens Association,

along with the General !les"# $ondon#

Source:Original pamphlet;

Transcription/Markup:%odiac&'rian 'aggins;

Online Version:(ar) * +ngels nternet rchi.e /mar)ists#org0

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Workingmen:

t is a great act that the miser3 o the woring masses has not

diminished rom 1848 to 1864, and 3et this period is !nri.aled or the

de.elopment o its ind!str3 and the growth o its commerce# n 185 amoderate organ o the 'ritish middle class, o more than a.erage

inormation, predicted that i the e)ports and imports o +ngland were to

rise 5 per cent, +nglish pa!perism wo!ld sin to ero# las On pril 7,

1864, the hancellor o the +)che9!er delighted his parliamentar3

a!dience b3 the statement that the total import and e)port o +ngland had

grown in 186: to 44:,55, po!nds > ?e did

not spea o the people o reland, grad!all3 replaced b3 machiner3 in the

north and b3 sheepwals in the so!th, tho!gh e.en the sheep in that

!nhapp3 co!ntr3 are decreasing, it is tr!e, not at so rapid a rate as the

men# ?e did not repeat what then had been @!st betra3ed b3 the highest

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representation o the !pper ten tho!sand in a s!dden it o terror# =hen

garrote panic had reached a certain height the ?o!se o $ords ca!sed an

in9!ir3 to be made into, and a report to be p!blished !pon, transportation

and penal ser.it!de# O!t came the m!rder in the b!l3 'l!e 'oo o 186:

and pro.ed it was, b3 oicial acts and ig!res, that the worst o the

con.icted criminals, the penal sers o +ngland and Acotland, toiled m!ch

less and ared ar better than the agric!lt!ral laborers o +ngland and

Acotland# '!t this was not all# =hen, conse9!ent !pon the i.il =ar in

merica, the operati.es o $ancashire and heshire were thrown !pon the

streets, the same ?o!se o $ords sent to the man!act!ring districts a

ph3sician commissioned to in.estigate into the smallest possible amo!nt

o carbon and nitrogen, to be administered in the cheapest and plainest

orm, which on an a.erage might @!st s!ice to a.ert star.ationdiseases"# Br# Amith, the medical dep!t3, ascertained that 28, grains o

carbon and 1,:: grains o nitrogen were the weel3 allowance that wo!ld

eep an a.erage ad!lt### @!st o.er the le.el o star.ation diseases, and he

o!nd !rthermore that 9!antit3 prett3 nearl3 to agree with the scant3

no!rishment to which the press!re o e)treme distress had act!all3

red!ced the cotton operati.es (1)# '!t now mar


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will onl3 come when other pri.ations ha.e preceded it#### +.en

cleanliness will ha.e been o!nd costl3 or diic!lt, and i there still be

sel-respect!l endea.ors to maintain it, e.er3 s!ch endea.or will

represent additional pangs o h!nger#"


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power," adds (r# Gladstone, is entirel3 conined to classes o

propert3#"

3o! want to now !nder what conditions o broen health, tainted

morals, and mental r!in that into)icating a!gmentation o wealth and

power### entirel3 conined to classes o propert3" was, and is, being

prod!ced b3 the classes o labor, loo to the pict!re h!ng !p in the last

P!blic ?ealth eport o the worshops o tailors, printers, and

dressmaers ompare the eport o the hildren>s +mplo3ment

ommission" o 186:, where it states, or instance, that

the potters as a class, both men and women, represent a m!ch

degenerated pop!lation, both ph3sicall3 and mentall3", that the

!nhealth3 child is an !nhealth3 parent in his t!rn", that a progressi.e

deterioration o the race m!st go on", and that the degenerescence othe pop!lation o Ataordshire wo!ld be e.en greater were it not or

the constant recr!iting rom the ad@acent co!ntr3, and the

intermarriage with more health3 races#"

Glance at (r# s 'l!e 'oo o the Grie.ances

omplained o b3 the Jo!rne3men 'aers" nd who has not sh!ddered

at the parado)ic made b3 the inspectors o actories, and ill!strated b3 the

egistrar General, that the $ancashire operati.es, while p!t !pon the

distress pittance o ood, were act!all3 impro.ing in health, beca!se o

their temporar3 e)cl!sion b3 the cotton amine rom the cotton actor3,

and the mortalit3 o the children was decreasing, beca!se their mothers

were now at last allowed to gi.e them, instead o Godre3>s cordial, their

own breasts#

gain, re.erse the medal


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3o! will ind that the n!mber o male landed proprietors o +ngland and

=ales has decreased rom 16,:4 in 1851 to 15,66 in 1861, so that the

concentration o land had grown in 1 3ears 11 per cent# the

concentration o the soil o the co!ntr3 in a ew hands proceeds at the

same rate, the land 9!estion will become sing!larl3 simpliied, as it had

become in the oman +mpire when Hero grinned at the disco.er3 that

hal o the pro.ince o rica was owned b3 si) gentlemen#

=e ha.e dwelt so long !pon these acts so astonishing to be almost

incredible" beca!se +ngland heads the +!rope o commerce and ind!str3#

t will be remembered that some months ago one o the re!gee sons o

$o!is Philippe p!blicl3 congrat!lated the +nglish agric!lt!ral laborer on

the s!periorit3 o his lot o.er that o his less lorid comrade on the other

side o the hannel# ndeed, with local colors changed, and on a scale

somewhat contracted, the +nglish acts reprod!ce themsel.es in all the

ind!strio!s and progressi.e co!ntries o the ontinent# n all o them there

has taen place, since 1848, an !nheard-o de.elopment o ind!str3, and

an !nheard-o e)pansion o imports and e)ports# n all o them, as in

+ngland, a minorit3 o the woring classes got their real wages somewhat

ad.anced; while in most cases the monetar3 rise o wages denoted no

more a real access o comorts than the inmate o the metropolitan

poorho!se or orphan as3l!m, or instance, was in the least beneited b3 hisirst necessaries costing K 15s# 8d# in 1861 against K7 7s# 4d# in 1852#

+.er3where the great mass o the woring classes were sining down to a

lower depth, at the same rate at least that those abo.e them were rising in

the social scale# n all co!ntries o +!rope it has now become a tr!th

demonstrable to e.er3 !npre@!diced mind, and onl3 decried b3 those

whose interest it is to hedge other people in a ool>s paradise, that no

impro.ement o machiner3, no appliance o science to prod!ction, no

contri.ances o comm!nication, no new colonies, no emigration, no

opening o marets, no ree trade, not all these things p!t together, will do

awa3 with the miseries o the ind!strio!s masses; b!t that, on the present

alse base, e.er3 resh de.elopment o the prod!cti.e powers o labor

m!st tend to deepen social contrasts and point social antagonisms# Beath

o star.ation rose almost to the ran o an instit!tion, d!ring this

into)icating epoch o economical progress, in the metropolis o the 'ritish

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empire# str!ggle, o!ght with almost admirable perse.erance,

the +nglish woring classes, impro.ing a momentaneo!s split between the

landlords and mone3 lords, s!cceeded in carr3ing the

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ph3sical, moral, and intellect!al beneits hence accr!ing to the actor3

operati.es, hal-3earl3 chronicled in the reports o the inspectors o

actories, are now acnowledged on all sides# (ost o the continental

go.ernments had to accept the +nglish Iactor3 ct in more or less

modiied orms, and the +nglish Parliament itsel is e.er3 3ear compelled

to enlarge its sphere o action# '!t besides its practical import, there was

something else to e)alt the mar.elo!s s!ccess o this woringmen>s

meas!re# s content pro.ed, that an3 legal restriction o

the ho!rs o labor m!st so!nd the death nell o 'ritish ind!str3, which,

.ampirelie, co!ld b!t li.e b3 s!cing blood, and children>s blood, too# n

olden times, child m!rder was a m3sterio!s rite o the religion o (oloch,b!t it was practiced on some .er3 solemn occassions onl3, once a 3ear

perhaps, and then (oloch had no e)cl!si.e bias or the children o the

poor#


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disappear beore associated labor pl3ing its toil with a willing hand, a

read3 mind, and a @o3o!s heart# n +ngland, the seeds o the co-operati.e

s3stem were sown b3 obert Owen; the woringmen>s e)periments tried

on the ontinent were, in act, the practical !pshot o the theories, not

invented, but loudly proclaimed, in 1848#

t the same time the e)perience o the period rom 1848 to 1864 has

pro.ed be3ond do!bt that, howe.er, e)cellent in principle and howe.er

!se!l in practice, co-operati.e labor, if kept within the narrow circle of

the casual efforts of private workmen, will ne.er be able to arrest the

growth in geometrical progression o monopol3, to ree the masses, nor

e.en to perceptibl3 lighten the b!rden o their miseries# t is perhaps or

this .er3 reason that pla!sible noblemen, philanthropic middle-class

spo!ters, and e.en eep political economists ha.e all at once t!rned

na!seo!sl3 complimentar3 to the .er3 co-operati.e labor s3stem the3 had

.ainl3 tried to nip in the b!d b3 deriding it as the !topia o the dreamer, or

stigmatiing it as the sacrilege o the socialist#


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be chastised b3 the common discomit!re o their incoherent eorts# s ?all, to o!nd the

nternational ssociation#

nother con.iction swa3ed that meeting#

the emancipation o the woring classes re9!ires their raternal

conc!rrence, how are the3 to !lill that great mission with a oreign

polic3 in p!rs!it o criminal designs, pla3ing !pon national pre@!dices,

and s9!andering in piratical wars the people>s blood and treas!reC t was

not the wisdom o the r!ling classes, b!t the heroic resistance to their

criminal oll3 b3 the woring classes o +ngland, that sa.ed the west o

+!rope rom pl!nging headlong into an inamo!s cr!sade or the

perpet!ation and propagation o sla.er3 on the other side o the tlantic#


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simple chemical constit!ents m!st be s!pplied in the orm o .egetable or

animal s!bstances# Potatoes, or instance, contain mainl3 carbon, while

wheaten bread contains carbonaceo!s and nitrogeno!s s!bstances in a d!e

proportion# E #(#

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