The working-men of Europe, not excepting Germany, respond to the
mandate of Philosophy, and insist that the War System shall be
abolished. At public meetings, in formal resolutions and
addresses, they have declared war against War, and they will not
be silenced. This is not the first time that working-men have made
themselves heard for international justice. I cannot forget, that,
while Slavery was waging war against our nation, the working-men
of Belgium in public meeting protested against that precocious
Proclamation of Belligerent Rights by which the British Government
gave such impulse to the Rebellion; and now, in the same spirit,
and for the sake of true peace, they declare themselves against
that War System by which the peace of nations is placed in such
constant jeopardy. They are right; for nobody suffers in war as
the working-man, whether in property or in person. For him war is
a ravening monster, devouring his substance, and changing him from
citizen to military serf. As victim of the War System he is
entitled to be heard.
The working-men of different countries have been organizing in
societies, of which it is difficult at present to tell the number
and extent. It is known that these societies exist in Germany,
France, Spain, Italy, and England, as well as in our own country,
and that they have in some measure an international character. In
France, before the war, there were 438,785 men in the organization,
and in Germany 150,000. Yet this is but the beginning. [Footnote:
La Solidarite, 25 Juin 1870,--as cited by Testu, _L' Internationale,
(me edit.,) p. 275.]
At the menace of the present war, all these societies were roused.
The society known as the International Working-Men's Association,
by their General Council, issued an address, dated at London,
protesting against it as a war of dynasties, denouncing Louis
Napoleon as an enemy of the laboring classes, and declaring "the
war-plot of July, 1870, but an amended edition of the _coup
d'etat_ of December, 1851." The address then testifies generally
against war, saying,--
"They feel deeply convinced, that, whatever turn the impending
horrid war may take, _the alliance of the working classes of all
countries will ultimately kill war_." [Footnote: The General
Council of the International Working-Men's Association on the War,
(London, July 23, 1870.) p. iv.]
At the same time the Paris branch of the International Association
put forth a manifesto addressed "To the Working-Men of all
Countries," from which I take these passages:--
"Once more, under the pretext of European equilibrium, of national
honor, political ambitions menace the peace of the world.
"French, German, Spanish working-men! _let our voices unite in a
cry of reprobation against war!_
* * * * * *
"War for a question of preponderance, or of dynasty, can, in the
eyes of working-men, be nothing but a criminal absurdity.
"In response to the warlike acclamations of those who exonerate
themselves from the impost of blood, or who find in public
misfortunes a source of new speculations, we protest,--we who
wish for peace, work, and liberty.
* * * * * *
"Brothers of Germany!....our divisions would only bring about
_the complete triumph of despotism on both sides of the
Rhine._
* * * * * *
"Working-men of all countries! whatever may be the result of our
common efforts, we, members of the International Association of
Working-Men, who know no frontiers, we send you, as a pledge of
indissoluble solidarity, the good wishes and the salutations of
the working-men of France." [Footnote: Testu, L'Internationale,
pp. 279-80. The General Council of the International Working-Men's
Association on the War, p. ii.]
To this appeal, so full of truth, touching to the quick the
pretence of balance of power and questions of dynasty as excuses
for war, and then rising to "a cry of reprobation against war,"
the Berlin branch of the International Association replied:--
"We join with heart and hand in your protestation..... Solemnly we
promise you that neither the noise of drums nor the thunder of
cannon, neither victory nor defeat, shall turn us aside from our
work for the union of the proletaries of all countries."
[Footnote: Testu, pp. 284-85. The General Council, etc., p. iii.]
Then came a meeting of delegates at Chemnitz, in Saxony,
representing fifty thousand Saxon working-men, which put forth the
following hardy words:--
"We are happy to grasp the fraternal hand stretched out to us by
the working-men of France.... Mindful of the watchword of the
International Working-Men's Association, _Proletarians of all
countries, unite!_ we shall never forget that the working-men
of all countries are our friends, and the despots of all countries
our enemies." [Footnote: The General Council of the International
Working-Men's Association on the War, p. iii.]
Next followed, at Brunswick, in Germany, on the 16th of July,--the
very day after the reading of the war document at the French
tribune, and the "light heart" of the Prime-Minister,--a mass
meeting of the working-men there, which declared its full
concurrence with the manifesto of the Paris branch, spurned the
idea of national antagonism to France, and wound up with these
solid words:--
"We are enemies of all wars, but above all of dynastic wars"
[Footnote: Ibid.]
The whole subject is presented with admirable power in an address
from the Workmen's Peace Committee to the Working-Men of Great
Britain and Ireland, duly signed by their officers. Here are some
of its sentences:--
"Without us war must cease; for without us standing armies could
not exist. It is out of our class chiefly that they are formed."
"We would call upon and implore the peoples of France find
Germany, in order to enable their own rulers to realize these
their peace-loving professions, _to insist upon the abolition of
standing armies_, as both the source and means of war, nurseries
of vice, and locust-consumers of the fruits of useful industry."
"What we claim and demand--what we would implore the peoples of
Europe to do, without regard to Courts, Cabinets, or Dynasties--is
_to insist upon Arbitration as a substitute for war_, with
peace and its blessings for them, for us, for the whole civilized
world." [Footnote: Herald of Peace for 1870, September 1st, pp.
101-2.]
The working-men of England responded to this appeal, in a crowded
meeting at St. James's Hall, London, where all the speakers were
working-men and representatives of the various handicrafts, except
the Chairman, whose strong words found echo in the intense
convictions of the large assemblage:--
"One object of this meeting is to make the horror universally
inspired by the enormous and cruel carnage of this terrible war
the groundwork for appealing to the working classes and the people
of all other European countries to join in protesting against war
altogether, [_prolonged cheers_,] as the shame of Christendom,
and direst curse and scourge of the human race. Let the will
of the people sweep away war, which cannot he waged without
them. [_'Hear!'_] Away with enormous standing armies, [_'Hear!'_]
the nurseries and instruments of war,--nurseries, too, of
vice, and crushing burdens upon national wealth and prosperity!
Let there go forth from the people of this and other lands
one universal and all-overpowering cry and demand for the
blessings of peace!" [Footnote: Ibid., October 1st, p. 125.]
At this meeting the Honorary Secretary of the Workmen's Peace
Committee, after announcing that the working-men of upwards of
three hundred towns had given their adhesion to the platform of
the Committee, thus showing a determination to abolish war
altogether, moved the following resolution, which was adopted:---
"That war, especially with the present many fearful contrivances
for wholesale carnage an destruction, is repugnant to every
principle of reason, humanity, and religion; and this meeting
earnestly invites all civilized and Christian peoples to insist
upon the abolition of standing armies, and the settlement by
arbitration of all international disputes." [Footnote: Herald of
Peace for 1870, October 1st, p. 125.]
Thus clearly is the case stated by the Working-Men, now beginning
to be heard; and the testimony is reverberated from nation to
nation. They cannot be silent hereafter. I confidently look to
them for important cooperation in this great work of redemption.
Could my voice reach them now, wherever they may be, in that
honest toil which is the appointed lot of man, it would be with
words of cheer and encouragement. Let them proceed until
civilization is no longer darkened by war. In this way will they
become not only saviours to their own households, but benefactors
of the whole Human Family.