Part 6 (1/2)

Outside of Paris, the initiative of creating a _Bourse du Travail_ was generally taken by the workingmen themselves. The local syndicats would elect a committee to work out statutes and a table of probable expenses and income. The project of the committee would then be submitted to the general a.s.sembly of the syndicats. The a.s.sembly would also elect an administrative council, a secretary, treasurer and other officers. The statutes, the list of adhering syndicats, and the names of the administrative officers would then be presented to the munic.i.p.al authorities, and the _Bourse du Travail_, which in fact was a local federation of unions, would be formally const.i.tuted.

In many places, local federations existed before 1887. These simply had to a.s.sume the new t.i.tle to transform themselves into _Bourses du Travail_. The munic.i.p.alities would then intervene and grant a subvention. Up to 1902 inclusive, the munic.i.p.alities of France spent 3,166,159 francs in installing _Bourses du Travail_, besides giving the annual subventions. In 1902, the subvention received by all the _Bourses du Travail_ of France from the munic.i.p.alities amounted to 197,345 francs, and 48,550 francs besides were contributed to their budget by the Departments.[84] The readiness of the munic.i.p.al councils to subsidize the _Bourses du Travail_ was due mostly, if not always, to political considerations.

[84] _Annuaire Statistique_.

Though soliciting subventions from the munic.i.p.alities, the syndicats insisted on being absolutely independent in the administration of the Bourses. The first Congress of the _Bourses du Travail_ in 1892 declared that:

Whereas the _Bourses du Travail_ must be absolutely independent in order to render the services which are expected from them;

Whereas this inst.i.tution const.i.tutes the only reform which the workingmen have wrested from the ruling cla.s.s;

The Congress of _Bourses du Travail_ of 1892 declares that the workingmen must reject absolutely the meddling of the administrative and governmental authorities in the functioning of the Bourses,--an interference which was manifested in the declaration of public utility;

Invites the workingmen to make the most energetic efforts in order to guarantee the entire independence of the _Bourses du Travail_, and to refuse the munic.i.p.alities if they or the government desire to interfere with their functioning.[85]

[85] Seilhac, _Congres Ouvriers_, p. 231.

The munic.i.p.alities, on the contrary, wanted to have some control over the funds they furnished. The result was more or less friction. In 1894, the Congress of the _Bourses du Travail_ decided to demand that the Bourses be declared inst.i.tutions of public utility; this, it was thought, would put them under the protection of the law and make impossible any hostile act on the part of the administration. But the next year the fourth Congress of the _Bourses du Travail_ reversed the decision of the preceding Congress and declared for complete independence.

As the _Bourses du Travail_ became more aggressive, the difficulties with regard to the munic.i.p.alities increased. At the fifth congress of the _Bourses du Travail_ (1896) in Tours, a report was presented showing the Bourses how they could exist without the subvention of the munic.i.p.alities. The question of financial independence was brought up at later Congresses, but received no solution. The Bourses could not live on their own resources, while they continued the activities which brought them now and then into conflict with the munic.i.p.al authorities.

The program which the _Bourses du Travail_ gradually outlined for themselves has been cla.s.sified under four heads: (1) Benevolent Services, or as the French term it _Mutualite_; (2) _Instruction_; (3) _Propaganda_; and (4) _Resistance_.[86]

[86] On the _Bourses du Travail_ see, F. Pelloutier, _Histoire des Bourses du Travail_, 1902; Ch. Franck, _Les Bourses du Travail et la Confederation Generale du Travail_, 1910; P. Delesalle, _Les Bourses du Travail et la C. G. T._ (Paris, 1910).

The services of _Mutualite_ included finding employment for workingmen out of work (_Placement_), a.s.sistance to workmen who go from city to city in search of employment (_Viatic.u.m_), aid to other unemployed persons, sick benefit, etc. The Bourses paid particular attention to the service of _placement_. Pelloutier, the Secretary of the Federation of Bourses, wrote:

The Placement is in fact the first and greatest advantage which the federative grouping can offer to the workingmen, and it const.i.tutes a powerful instrument of recruiting. In consequence of the instability of employment, the use of private employment bureaus for whose services payment has to be made, soon becomes so onerous that many workingmen exasperated by the necessity of deducting from their future wages (which are more and more reduced) considerable t.i.thes for the services of employment bureaus, prefer often--though losing thereby--to spend their time in search of a place which will secure a livelihood. Besides, it is known--and the proceedings of Parliament have furnished decisive proof--that the habitual practice of the employment bureaus is to procure the most precarious employments so as to multiply the number of visits which the workingmen will have to pay them. It is therefore easy to understand the readiness with which the unfortunates go to the _Bourse du Travail_, which offers desired employment gratuitously.

In this manner men who would hold aloof from the syndicats out of ignorance or indifference, enter them under the pressure of need and find there instruction, the utility and importance of which escaped them before.[87]

[87] Pelloutier, _op. cit._, pp. 87-88.

The services of instruction comprised the founding of libraries, the organization of technical courses, the arrangement of lectures on general subjects (economic, literary, historical, etc.), workingmen's journals, bureaus of information, etc.

The propaganda of the Bourses had for its general aim the intellectual development of the workingman and the extension of the syndical movement. The Bourses were to support the syndicats in existence, organize new ones, promote the adherence of single syndicats to their national federations, carry on a propaganda among the agricultural laborers and perform other functions of a similar character.

The services of resistance consisted in lending material and moral aid to the workingmen in their economic struggles. The Bourses regarded themselves mainly as societies of resistance whose princ.i.p.al function was to support the workingmen in struggle. The other functions were considered subordinate to this main service.

Every Bourse carried out this program only in proportion to its means.

The Bourses differed a great deal in number of adherents, in financial resources, in command of organizers, etc. Some consisted of a few syndicats with a few dozen members only; others comprised tens of syndicats with thousands of organized workingmen and with a budget running into the thousands.

A few figures may help to form some idea of the extent of the services rendered by the _Bourses du Travail_ during the period considered in this chapter. The number of positions filled by the Bourses were as follows:

_Applications _Offers of _Placed at _Placed away _Year_ for employment_ employment_ residence_ from residence_ 1895 38,141 17,190 15,031 5,335 1898 83,648 45,461 47,237 38,159 1902 99,330 60,737 44,631 30,544[88]

[88] _Annuaire Statistique_.

The service of _viatic.u.m_ was organized differently by different Bourses. Some paid one franc a day, others one and one-half and two francs. In many Bourses the traveling workingmen received part only of the _viatic.u.m_ in money, the rest in kind (tickets to restaurants, lodging, etc.). The reports of the Bourses presented to their Congress at Paris in 1900, contain some information on the subject. The Bourse of Alger spent from 600 to 700 francs a year on the service of _viatic.u.m_.

The Bourse of Bordeaux distributed during certain months about 130 francs, during others, only 60; other Bourses spent much less. The following table presents the amounts spent in successive years by the Bourse of Rennes: