Part 8 (1/2)

The partial strikes fail because the workingmen become demoralized and succ.u.mb under the intimidation of the employers protected by the government. The general strike will last a short while and its repression will be impossible; as to intimidation, it is still less to be feared. The necessity of defending the factories, workshops, manufactures, stores, etc., will scatter and disperse the army....

And then, in the fear that the strikes may damage the railways, the signals, the works of art, the government will be obliged to protect the 39,000 kilometers of railroad lines by drawing up the troops all along them. The 300,000 men of the active army, charged with the surveillance of 39 million meters, will be isolated from one another by 130 meters, and this can be done only on the condition of abandoning the protection of the depots, of the stations, of the factories, etc. ... and of abandoning the employers to themselves, thus leaving the field free in the large cities to the revolted workingmen.

The princ.i.p.al force of the general strike consists in its power of imposing itself. A strike in one trade, in one branch of industry, must involve other branches.

The general strike can not be decreed in advance; it will burst forth suddenly: a strike of the railway men, for instance, if declared, will be the signal of the general strike. It will be the duty of militant workingmen, when this signal is given, to make their comrades in the syndicats leave their work. Those who continue to work on that day will be compelled, or forced, to quit.[108]

[108] Seilhac, _Congres Ouvriers_, pp. 331-2.

And M. Guerard, applauded by the audience, concluded: ”The general strike will be the Revolution, peaceful or not.”

However, as a concession to the opponents of the general strike, the Congress of Tours decided that the ”Committee for the propaganda of the general strike” should be independent of the Confederation. It was also from now on to collect only five per cent of all strike-subscriptions.

The Congress of Tours also admonished the syndicats to abandon their political preoccupations which were held to be the cause of disorganization.

These changes helped but little. During 1896-97 the Confederation counted 11 federations, 1 federated union, 1 trade union, the Union of Syndicats of Paris, and three national syndicats. The Federation of Bourses declined either to join or to help the Confederation. The number of delegates to the National Council was again insufficient to const.i.tute the committees. The income for the year, including the balance from the previous year, amounted to 1,558 francs.[109]

[109] Ch. Franck, _op. cit._, pp. 226-7.

The Congress of Toulouse, therefore, decided to make new changes.

Accepting the suggestion of the Federation of Bourses whose adherence was desired, the Confederation was to consist now of (1) the Federation of Bourses du Travail, (2) of National federations of trade and of industry, and (3) of local syndicats or of local federations of trades which were not yet organized nationally or whose national federations refused to join the Confederation. The Confederation was to be represented by the Federal Committee of the Federation of Bourses and by the National Council of the Federations of trade.

The Congress of Toulouse again declared that ”the general strike was synonymous with Revolution,” and decided that sub-committees for the propaganda of the general strike should be established in the _Bourses du Travail_ to keep in touch with the General Committee in Paris. It discussed several other questions: trade-journal, suppression of prison-work, eight-hour day, and among these, for the first time, the questions of the boycott and of _sabotage_.

The report on boycott and _sabotage_[110] was prepared by two anarchists, Pouget and Delesalle. The report explained the origin of the boycott and of _sabotage_, and gave instances of their application in different countries. It referred in particular to the _Go Canny_ practice of the English workingmen whose principle the report merely wanted to generalize and to formulate.

[110] _Sabotage_ means the obstruction in all possible ways of the regular process of production; _cf._ ch. v.

Up to the present time [read the report] the workingmen have declared themselves revolutionary; but most of the time they have remained on theoretical ground: they have labored to extend the ideas of emanc.i.p.ation, they have tried to sketch a plan of a future society from which human exploitation should be eliminated.

But why, beside this educational work, the necessity of which is incontestable, has nothing been tried in order to resist the encroachments of capitalists and to render the exigencies of employers less painful to the workingmen?

To this end the report recommended the use of the boycott and of _sabotage_, which should take place by the side of the strike as the workingmen's means of defense and offense. The report shows how these methods could be used in particular cases. _Sabotage_ particularly, sometimes applied to the quant.i.ty, sometimes to the quality, should bring home to the employer that the workingmen are determined to render ”poor work for poor pay”.

The report concluded:

The boycott and its indispensable complement, _sabotage_, furnishes us with an effective means of resistance which--while awaiting the day when the workingmen will be sufficiently strong to emanc.i.p.ate themselves completely--will permit us to stand our ground against the exploitation of which we are the victims.

It is necessary that the capitalists should know it: the workingman will respect the machine only on that day when it shall have become for him a friend which shortens labor, instead of being, as it now is, the enemy, the robber of bread, the killer of workingmen.[111]

[111] E. Pouget, _Le Sabotage_ (Paris, 1910), pp. 15-16.

The Congress adopted unanimously and with great enthusiasm a motion inviting the workingmen to apply the boycott and _sabotage_ when strikes would not yield results.

During 1897-98 the Federation of Bourses and the Confederation were to work together, but no harmony was possible. The report presented to the Congress of Rennes (1898) is full of complaints and of accusations on both sides. Personal difficulties between the two secretaries, M.

Pelloutier and M. Lagailse, who was an ”Allemanist,” sprang up; besides, the National Council and the Federal Committee were animated by a different spirit. The Federal Committee evidently tried to dominate the National Council. The latter was weak. It counted only 18 organizations, and no new members were gained during 1897-98. The National Council did not function regularly; the explanation given was that as no functionaries were paid, they had but little time to devote to the business of the Confederation. The dues paid during 1897-8 amounted to 793 francs; the whole income was 1,702 francs. The treasurer thought that this showed that the ”General Confederation of Labor was in a flouris.h.i.+ng condition.”

The ”Committee for the propaganda of the General Strike” admitted on the contrary that it had accomplished little. Only twenty Bourses formed sub-committees. The five per cent of strike subscriptions was not paid by the syndicats. Only 835 francs came in from this source; together with the income from other sources, the receipts of the Committee totaled 1,086 francs; of this it spent 822 francs.

During 1898 the Syndicat of Railroad Workers had a conflict with the railroad companies and a railroad strike was imminent. The Secretary of the General Confederation of Labor sent out a circular to all syndical organizations of France calling their attention to the ”formidable consequences for capitalism” which such a strike could have, if joined by all trades. The circular formulated eight demands, such as old-age pensions; eight-hour day, etc., which ”could be realized in a few days if the working-cla.s.s, conscious of its force, and of its rights, was willing to act energetically.”[112]