Revised in accordance with the resolutions
of the successive congresses (1866 to 1869)
and of the London Conference (1871).

I. — Of the General Congress.

1.— Every member of the International Working Men’s Association has the
right to vote in the elections for the Congress, and is eligible as a delegate.

2. — Every section, whether numerous or not, has the right to send a delegate
to the Congress.

3. — Each delegate has only one vote at the Congress.

4. — The delegates shall receive an indemnity from the section or group
that appointed them.

5. — A section may unite with neighbouring sections to appoint a common
delegate.

6. — Every section or group of sections numbering more than 500 members
has the right to send one additional delegate for every 500 additional members.

7. — In future, only delegates of societies, sections or groups affiliated to the International,
and who are in order with the General Council as regards the payment of their
subscriptions, will be admitted to sit and vote in the Congress.

Nevertheless, for countries where the organisation of the International Working Men’s Association
encounters legal difficulties, the delegates of the corporate workers’ societies
will be admitted to discuss questions of principle, but may not discuss and
vote upon administrative questions.

8. — The sittings of the Congress shall be of two kinds: administrative and
private, and public. In the latter, the general questions proposed by the programme
of the Congress shall be discussed and voted upon.

9. — The General Council shall draw up the official programme of the Congress, which
shall contain the questions placed on the order of the day by the preceding Congress,
the questions which the General Council has added to them, and the questions
submitted to this Council by the various sections and groups or by their
respective committees.

Any section wishing to propose for discussion at the next Congress

a question outside the programme adopted by the last Congress must
give notice thereof to the General Council before 31 March.

10. — The General Council is charged with organising the Congress and communicating
its programme, in good time, to all the sections through the intermediary of the
Federal Councils or Committees.

11.— The Congress shall form as many commissions as there are questions
on the order of the day. Each member shall designate the commission of which he wishes
to form part. The reports presented by the various groups or sections
shall be read at the sitting of the commission to which they have been referred.
It shall make a single report from them, which alone shall be read at the public sitting, and it
shall designate the particular reports that are to be appended to the official minutes.

12. — In the public sittings, the Congress shall deal in the first place
with the questions placed on the order of the day by the General Council; all other
questions shall be discussed afterwards.

13. — Voting upon questions of principle shall take place by roll call.

14. — Each section or federation of sections must send to the General
Council, at the latest one month before the annual Congress, a detailed report
on its progress and development during the year.

From these documents the General Council shall make a single report, which alone shall
be read at a sitting of the Congress.

II. — Of the General Council.

1.— The designation of General Council is reserved for the central council of
the International Working Men’s Association.

The central councils of the various countries where the International is regularly
organised shall designate themselves under the name of Federal Council or Federal
Committee, adding the name of their respective country.

2.— The General Council is bound to execute the resolutions of the Congresses.

3. — As often as its means shall permit, the General Council
shall publish a bulletin embracing everything that interests the International
Working Men’s Association.

In this bulletin shall be summarised all the documents that the Federal Councils or
Committees of the various countries have sent to it, or which it has
procured by any other channel.

The bulletin, drawn up in several languages, shall be sent gratis to the Federal Councils or Committees,
which must communicate a copy
to each of their sections.

In the event that the General Council cannot publish this bulletin, it shall
be replaced by a quarterly written communication, which the federal councils or
committees shall cause to be published in the newspapers of their country and especially
in the organs of the International.

4. — Every section or society that is formed and wishes to form part of
the International must immediately announce its adhesion to the General
Council.

5. — The General Council has the right to admit or to refuse the affiliation of
every new society or group, subject to appeal to the Congress.

Nevertheless, where federal councils or committees exist, the General
Council, while reserving its right of provisional decision, shall consult them
before admitting or refusing the affiliation of a new section or
society.

6. — The General Council likewise has the right to suspend a section of
the International until the next congress.

7. — If differences arise between societies or branches of a
national group, or between groups of different nationalities, the General
Council shall have the right to decide them, subject to appeal to the Congress, whose decision
shall be final.

8. — All delegates of the General Council charged with special missions
shall have the right to attend and to be heard at all meetings
of the federal councils or committees, of the district or local committees and of the
local branches, without, however, having the right to vote.

9. — The English, French and German editions of the general statutes and
regulations must be reprinted in conformity with the official text published
by the General Council.

Before their publication, the translations of the general statutes and regulations
into other languages must be submitted for the approval of the General
Council.

III. — Subscriptions to be paid to the General Council.

1.— An annual subscription of 10 centimes per member shall be collected by
the General Council from all the affiliated sections and societies.

This subscription is intended to cover the various expenses of the General
Council, such as the remuneration of the general secretary, the costs of
correspondence, of publications, of the preparatory work for
Congresses, etc.

2.— The General Council shall have uniform stamps printed, representing
the value of 10 centimes each, of which the number requested shall be sent
annually to the federal councils or committees.

3.— The federal councils or committees shall forward to the local committees
or, in default thereof, to the sections within their jurisdiction, the number of stamps corresponding
to the number of their respective members.

4. — These stamps shall then be affixed to a leaf of the membership booklet or
to the copy of the statutes with which every member of the Association must be
provided.

5. — On the first of March the Federal Councils of the various countries or
regions shall be bound to send to the General Council the amount of the stamps
used and to return to it the remaining stamps.

6. — These stamps, representing the value of the individual subscriptions,

shall bear the number of the current year.

IV. — Federal Councils or Committees.

1. — The expenses of administration of the federal councils or committees are at the
charge of their respective sections.

2. — Each federal council or committee must at least once a month
send a report to the General Council.

3. — The federal councils or committees are bound to send, every
quarter, to the General Council, a report on the administration and the financial
condition of the sections within their jurisdiction.

4. — Every federation may refuse to admit or may expel from its midst
sections or societies, without, however, being able to deprive them of their
international character, but it may demand their suspension from the
General Council.

V. — Local Societies, Branches and Groups.

1. — Each section has the right to draw up its own statutes and regulations
adapted to local circumstances and to the laws of its country; but they
must in no way be contrary to the general statutes and regulations.

2. — The local branches, sections or groups and their committees shall
in future designate and constitute themselves simply and exclusively
as branches, sections, groups and committees of the International Working Men’s
Association, adding the name of their respective locality.

3. — It is henceforth forbidden for branches, sections and groups to
designate themselves by sectarian names, as, for example, the names of positivist,
mutualist, collectivist, communist, etc., branches, or to form
separatist groups, under the name of “sections of propaganda”, etc.,

assigning themselves special missions outside the common aim pursued by
all the groups of the International.

4. — It is nevertheless understood that Article 2 does not apply to the
resistance societies (Trades’ Unions) affiliated to the International.

5. — All the sections and workers’ societies affiliated to the International
are invited to abolish the office of president of the section or society.

6. — The formation of sections of women within the working class is
recommended. It is understood that this article in no way prejudices
the existence, and in no way excludes the formation, of sections composed
of working people of both sexes.

7. — All newspapers containing attacks against the Association
must be immediately sent to the General Council by the sections.

8. — The addresses of the offices and of the General Council shall be published every
three months in the newspapers of the Association.

VI. — General Statistics of the Working Class.

1.— The General Council is bound to put into execution Article V of the
original statutes relating to the statistics of the working class and to apply
the resolutions adopted by the Geneva Congress (1866) to the same effect.

2. — Each local section is bound to have within its midst a special
statistical committee, which shall always be ready, to the extent of its means,
to answer the questions that may be addressed to it by the federal council or
committee of the country or by the General Council of the International. It
is recommended to all sections to remunerate the secretaries of the statistical
committees, considering the importance and the general usefulness of their work for the
working class.

3.— On the first of August of each year, the federal councils or committees
shall send the collected documents to the General Council, which shall submit a
summary of them to the Congresses or Conferences.

4. — The refusal of a resistance society or an international branch
to give the requested information shall be brought to the knowledge of the
General Council, which shall have to decide on the matter.

5.— The resolutions of the Geneva Congress, mentioned in Article 1,
are as follows:

A great combination of international efforts will be the statistical enquiry,
made by the workers themselves, into the conditions of the working
classes of the various countries. Evidently, in order to act with some chance of
success, one must know the material upon which one wishes to act. At
the same time, the workers will prove, by the initiative of so great

a work, that they are capable of being the masters of their own destinies.
Therefore the Congress proposes:

That in every country where there are branches of our Association, statistical labour be commenced immediately, and the facts collected regarding the various subjects specified in the annexed questionnaire;

That all workers of Europe and America collaborate in this labour statistics;

That the reports and supporting documents be sent to the General Council;

That the General Council summarise them in a single report followed by an appendix containing the supporting documents;

That this report and this appendix be submitted to the annual Congress, and, after having received its sanction, be published at the expense of the Association.

Questionnaire, which may be modified according to the needs of each locality.

1. — Industry, its name.

2. — Age and sex of the workers.

3. — Number of employees.

4. — Wages and pay: a. Apprentices; b. Day rate or piece rate. Scale of wages paid by subcontractors. Average wage for the week and the year.

5. — a) Hours of labour in factories. — b) Hours of labour in small masters’ workshops and at home. — c) Day and night work.

6. — Meal times and hours.

7. — Description of the workplaces and of the nature of the work. Overcrowding, insufficient ventilation. Lack of light. Use of gas. Conditions of cleanliness, etc.

8. — Effects of the work on the state of health.

9. — Moral condition. Education.

10. — Conditions of the industry; whether it changes with the seasons or whether it is distributed more or less uniformly over the whole year; whether there are great fluctuations of prosperity and stagnation; whether the industry is exposed to foreign competition; whether it produces principally for the home market or for foreign markets.

11. — Specific laws affecting the relations between worker and employer.

391

Karl Marx

Appendix.

The Conference held in London, from 17 to 23 September 1871, instructed the General Council to publish, in English, in French, in German, a new authentic and revised edition of the General Statutes and Regulations of the International Working Men’s Association for the following reasons:

I. — General Statutes.

The Geneva Congress (1866) had adopted, with a few small additions, the provisional statutes of the Association, published in London in November 1864. It had also decided that “the official and binding text of the statutes and regulations shall be published by the General Council of London in its report of the Congress.” (See “Congrès ouvrier de l’Association Internationale des Travailleurs, tenu à Genève du 3 au 8 septembre 1866,” p. 27, note). The Bonapartist government prevented the General Council from carrying out this order, by seizing the minutes of the Geneva Congress in transit through France. When, thanks to the intercession of Lord Stanley, then Foreign Secretary of England, the minutes were finally restored, a French edition had already been published in Geneva, and the text of the statutes and regulations contained therein was immediately reproduced in various countries. This text was defective in many respects.

1. The French edition of the provisional London statutes was adopted in Geneva as a faithful translation, but the Paris committee, from which this translation emanated, had introduced important changes in the preamble of the statutes. Upon interpellation by the General Council, the committee represented them as changes necessitated by the political state of France. Moreover, for lack of a sufficient knowledge of English, several paragraphs of the statutes had been badly translated.

2.— The Geneva Congress having to give the provisional statutes a definitive form, the commission appointed for this purpose simply struck out all the articles relating to provisional measures, without noticing that these articles contained matters that were quite indispensable. The English edition, published after the Lausanne Congress (1867), reproduced the same defect.

I

392

II. — Administrative Regulations.

Hitherto, only the administrative regulations adopted by the Geneva Congress (1866) had been published jointly with the statutes. It had therefore become necessary to codify the administrative resolutions of all the Congresses and of the recent London Conference.

For this revised edition the following publications have been used:

“Address and provisional Rules of the International Working Men’s Association, etc.” London, 1864.

“Rules of the International Working Men’s Association.” London, 1867.

“Congrès ouvrier de l’Association Internationale des Travailleurs, tenu à Genève, du 3 au 8 septembre 1866.” Genève, 1866.

“Compte rendu du Congrès de Genève” (published from the minutes by the General Council in the Courrier International, London, March and April 1867).

“Procès-verbaux du Congrès de l’Association Internationale des Travailleurs, réuni à Lausanne, du 2 au 8 septembre 1867.” Chaux-de-Fonds, 1867.

“Troisième Congrès de l’Association Internationale des Travailleurs — Compte rendu officiel.” Bruxelles, 1868.

“The International Working Men’s Association. Resolutions of the Congress of Geneva, 1866, and the Congress of Brussels, 1868.” London, 1868.

“Compte rendu du quatrième Congrès International, tenu à Bâle en septembre 1869.” Bruxelles, 1869.

“Report of the Fourth Annual Congress of the International Working Men’s Association, held at Basel, 1869.” Published by the General Council. London, 1869.

“Quatrième Congrès de l’Association Internationale des Travailleurs, tenu à Bâle, 1869. Rapport du délégué des sections de la fabrique à Genève.” Genève, 1869.

“Resolutions of the Conference of Delegates of the International Working Men’s Association, assembled at London. 1871.” London, 1871.

As for the resolutions of the Basel Congress, the daily German report published in Basel during the congress, and the notes taken there by the general secretary, were also consulted.

In the following account, opposite the articles of the present statutes and regulations, the corresponding articles of previous editions are indicated, as well as the information relating to the administrative resolutions,

393

Karl Marx

now codified for the first time. The changes in the French text to make it conform to the English original, and which were prescribed by a resolution of the conference, are not indicated in this account.

General Statutes.

Preamble. — After the words: “For these reasons” — the words: “The International Working Men’s Association has been founded.” have been restored. See Provisional Rules, p. 13.

The paragraph: “The Congress considers it a duty, etc.,” has been omitted because there are two versions equally authentic and contradictory of one another. Besides, the true meaning of this paragraph is already contained in the one that precedes it and in the one that immediately follows it: “No duties without rights, etc.”

Art. 3. — is restored from article 3 of the original statutes, 1864.

Art. 4. — A part of article 3, and art. 4 of: Rules, London, 1867.

Art. 5. — The first part of art. 3, Rules, 1867. The words: “a president” have been omitted in conformity with administrative resolution I of the Basel Congress.

Art. 6. — Art. 5, Rules, 1867.

Art. 7. — Art. 6, Rules, 1867.

Art. 8. — Art. 10, Rules, 1867.

Art. 10. — Art. 8, Rules, 1867.

Art. 12. — Administrative regulation. Art. 15, Congrès ouvrier de Genève.

Art. 13. — Art. 12, Rules, 1867.

Administrative Regulations.

I. — Of the General Congress.

Art. 1. — Art. 11, Regulation adopted by the Geneva Congress (“Congrès de Genève,” Geneva, 1866, p. 26, etc.) Art. 10, Rules, etc., 1867, which is defective.

Art. 2. — Art. 9, Geneva Congress; Art. 6, Rules, etc., 1867.

Art. 3. — Art. 13, Geneva Congress; Art. 11, Rules, etc., 1867.

Art. 4. — Art. 10, Geneva Congress; Art. 9, Rules, etc., 1867.

394

Statuts généraux et règlements administratifs de l’A.I.T.

Art. 5. — Art. 9, Geneva Congress; Art. 7, Rules, etc., 1867.

Art. 6. — Art. 12, Geneva Congress; Art. 8, Rules, etc., 1867.

Art. 7. — Administrative regulation of Basel, VIII.

Art. 8. — For this article, the “Guide pratique pour le Congrès de l’Internationale” (Report of the Basel Congress, Brussels 1869), has been completed by the other materials cited above, relating to the Basel Congress.

Art. 9. — First paragraph, as for the preceding article. Second paragraph, resolution of the Lausanne Congress (minutes, p. 74, 1).

Art. 10. — Art. 1 B, Geneva Congress; Art. 1 B, Rules, etc., 1867.

Art. 11. — Guide pratique, Basel Congress, Art. 3 and 11.

Art. 12. — Guide Pratique, etc., Art. 10.

Art. 13. — Guide Pratique, etc., Art. 7.

Art. 14. — Guide Pratique, etc., Art. 4.

II. Of the General Council.

Art. 1. — London Conference, 1871, II.1.

Art. 2. — Geneva Congress, Art. 1; Rules etc., 1867, Art. 1.

Art. 3. — The first two paragraphs, Art. 2 and Art. 1 A, Geneva Congress, and Rules, etc., 1867. Third paragraph, Art. 3, Geneva Congress. Last paragraph, Lausanne Congress, minutes, p. 37, Art. 2.

Art. 4 to 7. — Administrative resolutions of Basel, IV to VII.

Art. 8. — London Conference, III.

Art. 9. — Resolutions of the London Conference, sessions of 18 and 22 September.

III. — Subscriptions to be paid to the General Council.

Art. 1. — First paragraph, Lausanne Congress, minutes, page 37, 3; and administrative resolutions of Basel, art. 9. Second paragraph, art. 4, Geneva Congress and Rules, etc., 1867.

Art. 2 to 6. — London Conference, IV, 1 to 5.

IV. — Of the federal councils or committees.

Art. 1. — Art. 6, Geneva Congress, and Rules, 1867.

Art. 2. — Art. 5, ditto.

Art. 3. — Brussels Congress. “Compte rendu Officiel,” page 50, appendix, administrative sessions, resolution no 3.

Art. 4. — Art. VI, Administrative resolutions of Basel.

395

Karl Marx

V. — Of the local societies, branches and groups.

Art. 1. — Art. 14, Geneva Congress; art. 12, Rules etc., 1867.

Art. 2 to 4. — London Conference, II, 2 to 4.

Art. 5. — Art. I, administrative resolutions of Basel.

Art. 6. — London Conference, V.

Art. 7. — Art. II, administrative resolutions of Basel.

Art. 8. — Art. III, ditto.

VI. — General statistics of the working class.

Art. 1 to 4. — London Conference, VI, 1 to 4.

Art. 5 — Resolution of the Geneva Congress (English edition of the resolutions of the Geneva and Brussels Congresses, etc.).

By order and in the name of the Conference.

ON THE GENERAL COUNCIL:
R. Applegarth, Ant. Arnaud, M. J. Boon, Fréd. Bradnick, G. H. Buttery, F. Cournet, Delahaye, Eugène Dupont (in delegation), W. Hales, G. Harris, Hurliman, Jules Johannard, Harriet Law, Fréd. Lessner, Lochner, Constant Martin, Z. Maurice, Henry Mayo, George Milner, Charles Murray, Pfander, John Roach, Rühl, Ranvier, Sadler, Cowell Stepney, Alf. Taylor, W. Townshend, Ed. Vaillant, John Weston.

CORRESPONDING SECRETARIES:

Karl Marx, Germany and Russia; Leo Frankel, Austria and Hungary; A. Herman, Belgium; Th. Mottershead, Denmark; J. G. Eccarius, United States; Le Moussu, French sections of the United States; Aug. Serraillier, France; Charles Rochat, Holland; J. P. MacDonnell, Ireland; Fred. Engels, Italy and Spain; Walery Wroblewski, Poland; Hermann Jung, Switzerland.

CHARLES LONGUET, chairman of the session.

HERMANN JUNG, treasurer.

JOHN HALES, general secretary.

256, High Holborn, W.C. London, 24 October 1871.

396

Karl Marx
General Statutes and Administrative Regulations
of the International Working Men’s Association
Official German edition,
revised by the General Council
Prepared on the basis

of the English and the French editions

by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

General Statutes and Administrative Regulations of the International Working Men’s Association

Considering,

That the emancipation of the working class must be conquered by the working class itself;

That the struggle for the emancipation of the working class is not a struggle for class privileges and monopolies, but for equal rights and duties and for the abolition of all class rule;

That the economic subjection of the worker to the appropriator of the means of labour, i.e. of the sources of life, lies at the bottom of bondage in all its forms—social misery, mental degradation, and political dependence;

That the economic emancipation of the working class is therefore the great end to which every political movement, as a means, must be subordinated;

That all efforts directed to this end have hitherto failed for want of union among the various branches of labour in each country, and of the absence of a fraternal bond among the working classes of the different countries;

That the emancipation of the working class is neither a local nor a national, but a social problem, which embraces all countries in which modern society exists, and whose solution depends on the practical and theoretical co-operation of the most advanced countries;

That the movement now reviving among the working class in the most industrial countries of Europe, while it awakens new hopes, gives solemn warning against a relapse into the old errors, and impels the immediate combination of the still disconnected movements;

For these reasons, the International Working Men’s Association has been founded.

It declares:

That all societies and individuals adhering to it shall acknowledge truth, justice, and morality as the rule of their conduct towards each other and towards all men, without regard to colour, creed, or nationality;

No duties without rights, no rights without duties.

And in this spirit the following statutes have been drawn up.

Art. 1. The present Association is established to create a central medium of communication and systematic co-operation between the working class societies existing in different countries, which pursue the same end, namely: the protection, advancement, and complete emancipation of the working class.

Art. 2. The name of the society is: International Working Men’s Association.

Art. 3. A general working class congress shall meet annually, composed of delegates of the branches of the Association. The congress proclaims the common aspirations of the working class, adopts the measures necessary for the successful working of the International Association, and elects the General Council of the society.

Art. 4. Each congress determines the time and place of the meeting of the next congress. The delegates assemble at the appointed time and place without any special invitation being required. The General Council may, in case of emergency, change the venue, but not postpone the time. The congress annually determines the seat of the General Council and elects its members. The General Council thus elected is empowered to add new members.

At its annual meetings, the congress receives a public report on the annual work of the General Council. The latter may, in urgent cases, convene the congress before the regular annual term.

Art. 5. The General Council shall be composed of working men from the different countries represented in the International Association. It shall appoint from its midst the posts necessary for the transaction of business, such as that of treasurer, general secretary, corresponding secretaries for the different countries, etc.

Art. 6. The General Council acts as an international agency between the various national and local groups of the Association, so that the working men of one country may be constantly informed of the movements of their class in all other countries; that an inquiry into the social condition of the different countries of Europe may be carried out simultaneously and under common direction; that questions of general interest raised by one society may be taken up by all others, and that, in cases calling for immediate practical steps, as for instance in international disputes, the societies belonging to the Association may act simultaneously and uniformly.

Whenever opportunity offers, the General Council takes the initiative in proposals to be laid before the various national or local societies.

To facilitate its communication with the branch societies, the General Council publishes periodical reports.

Art. 7. Since, on the one hand, the success of the labour movement in each country can be secured only by the power of union and combination, while, on the other hand, the effectiveness of the International General Council essentially depends upon its dealing with a few national centres of working class societies, instead of with a large number of small and disconnected local societies,—the members of the International Association shall use all their powers to combine the scattered working class societies of their respective countries into national bodies, represented by national central organs.

It is self-evident that the application of this article depends upon the particular laws of each country, and that, apart from legal impediments, no independent local society is excluded from direct correspondence with the General Council.

Art. 8. Every section has the right to appoint its own secretary corresponding with the General Council.

Art. 9. Everyone who acknowledges and defends the principles of the International Working Men’s Association is eligible as a member thereof. Each branch society is responsible for the integrity of the members it admits.

Art. 10. Whenever changing domicile from one country to another, every member of the International Association receives the fraternal support of the associated working men.

Art. 11. Although united in a perpetual bond of fraternal co-operation, the working class societies that join the International Working Men’s Association preserve their existing organisation intact.

Art. 12. The present statutes may be amended by any congress, provided that two thirds of the delegates present vote in favour.

Art. 13. Everything not provided for in the foregoing statutes will be supplemented by special regulations, which are subject to revision by each congress.

Administrative Regulations

revised in conformity with the resolutions of the congresses (1866–69) and the London Conference of 1871.

I. The General Congress.

1. Every member of the International Working Men’s Association is entitled to vote and to be elected in the election of delegates to the General Congress.

2. Each branch society, whatever the number of its members, may send one delegate to the congress.

3. Each delegate has only one vote at the congress.

4. The expenses of delegates are borne by the branch societies or groups that appoint them.

5. If a branch society is unable to send a delegate, it may agree with other neighbouring branches on the appointment of a common delegate.

6. Each branch society or group of more than 500 members may appoint additional delegates for every further 500 members.

7. In future, seats and voting rights at the congress will be allowed only to delegates of such societies, branches, or groups as form constituent parts of the International and have paid their contributions to the General Council. For those countries, however, where the regular organisation of the International is legally prevented, delegates of trade unions and workers’ co-operative societies shall be admitted to the congress debates on questions of principle, but not to the debate and voting on administrative matters.

8. The sittings of the congress are of two kinds: closed administrative sittings, and public sittings, to which the debate and voting on the general questions of the congress programme are reserved.

9. The congress programme consists of the questions placed on the agenda by the preceding congress, the questions added by the General Council, and the questions submitted to it for adoption by the various sections, groups, or their committees. It is edited by the General Council.

Every section, group, or its committee wishing to submit a question for the debate of the forthcoming congress that was not proposed by the previous congress shall inform the General Council thereof before 31 March.

10. The General Council is entrusted with the organisation of the congresses and shall communicate the congress programme in good time to the branch societies through the medium of the federal councils or committees.

11. The congress appoints a special committee for each question placed before it. Each delegate designates the committee on which he wishes to serve. Each committee reads the memorials sent in by the various sections and groups on the question with which it is dealing. It works them into a general report, which alone is to be read in the public sittings. It also decides which of the said memorials are to be appended to the official report of the congress proceedings.

12. In its public sittings, the congress deals first with the questions placed on the agenda by the General Council. Thereafter the debate on the remaining questions follows.

13. On all resolutions on questions of principle, a roll-call vote shall be taken.

14. At least two months before the annual congress meets, the branch societies or their federations shall render to the General Council a detailed report on their activity and development during the current year. The General Council shall work the material into a general report, which alone will be read at the congress.

II. The General Council.

1. The designation: General Council is reserved for the Central Council of the International Working Men’s Association. The central councils of the various countries in which the International is regularly organised shall designate themselves as federal councils or federal committees, with the addition of the names of their respective countries.

2. The General Council is bound to execute the resolutions of the congress.

3. Whenever its means permit, the General Council shall publish a report covering everything of general interest to the International Working Men’s Association.

For this purpose it collects the materials sent to it by the federal councils or committees of the various countries and those coming to it through other channels.

The report shall be drawn up in several languages and sent free of charge to the federal councils or committees, which shall forward one copy of it to each of their sections.

Should the General Council be unable to publish the said report, it shall every three months make a written communication to the various federal councils or committees, which in their turn shall publish it in the newspapers of their respective countries, and particularly in the organs of the International.

4. Every new section or workers’ society which intends to affiliate to the International shall immediately notify the General Council thereof.

5. The General Council has the right to admit or refuse the affiliation of any new section or group, subject to appeal to the next Congress.

However, where Federal Councils or Committees exist, the General Council must consult them before admitting or refusing the affiliation of a new section or society within their area; without prejudice, however, to its right of provisional decision.

6. The General Council also has the right to suspend any section of the International until the next Congress.

7. In the event of disputes between societies or sections of the same national group, or between groups of different nationality, the General Council has the right to decide, subject to appeal to the next Congress, which shall decide definitively.

8. All delegates appointed by the General Council for specific missions have the right to attend all meetings of the Federal Councils or Committees, district and local committees, and local sections, and to be heard there, without, however, having the right to vote there.

9. English, French and German editions of the General Statutes and Regulations are to be prepared according to the official edition of the General Council.

All translations of the General Statutes and Regulations into other languages must, before their publication, be submitted to the General Council for approval.

III. Contributions payable to the General Council.

1. A general contribution of one penny (Groschen) per member to the General Council is levied from all sections and affiliated societies. This contribution is intended to cover the costs of the General Council, such as the salary of the General Secretary, expenses for correspondence, printed matter, preparations for congresses, etc.

2. The General Council has adhesive stamps printed, each representing the value of one penny, and sends them annually to the Federal Councils or Committees in the required quantity.

3. The Federal Councils or Committees forward to the local committees, and, in their absence, to the local branches, a number of stamps corresponding to the number of their members.

4. These stamps are then to be affixed to the copy of the Statutes which every member is required to possess.

5. On the first of March of each year, the Federal Councils or Committees of the various countries shall remit the proceeds from the stamps sold to the General Council, and at the same time return the unsold stamps.

6. These stamps, which represent the value of the individual contributions, bear the date of the current year.

IV. Federal Councils or Committees.

1. The expenses of the Federal Councils or Committees are defrayed by their respective sections.

2. The Federal Councils or Committees are to send a report to the General Council at least monthly.

3. They are to submit a report to the General Council every three months on the administration and financial state of their respective sections.

4. Each Federation may admit societies or sections, or expel them from its midst. However, it is not empowered to deprive them of their international character, but may request their suspension from the General Council.

V. Local Societies, Sections and Groups.

1. Each section has the right to draw up special statutes for its local administration, according to local circumstances and national laws. However, the special statutes must contain nothing contrary to the General Statutes and Administrative Regulations.

2. All local branches, sections, groups and their committees shall henceforth designate and constitute themselves simply and exclusively as branches, etc., of the International Working Men’s Association, with the addition of the names of their respective localities.

3. Consequently, branches, groups and their committees are henceforth prohibited from adopting sectarian names, e.g., the names Positivists, Mutualists, Collectivists, Communists, etc., or from forming separate bodies which, under designations such as: Propaganda Section, etc., ascribe to themselves a special mission distinct from the common purposes of the Association.

4. Article 2, however, does not apply to the trade unions affiliated to the International.

5. All sections, branches, and workers’ societies affiliated to the International are invited to abolish the office of president for their respective section or society.

6. The formation of female branches within the working class is recommended. This article, needless to say, is not directed against the composition of branches from workers of both sexes.

7. Where attacks against the International are published, the nearest section or its committee is required to send a copy of such printed matter immediately to the General Council.

8. The addresses of the business premises of all international committees and of the General Council are to be published every three months in the organs of the Association.

VI. General Statistics of the Working Class.

1. The General Council is to put into effect Article 6 of the Statutes, insofar as it relates to a general statistics of the working class, as well as the resolutions of the Geneva Congress (1866) on the same subject.

2. Each local group is obliged to appoint a special statistical committee, so that it may always be ready, insofar as its means permit, to answer questions put by the Federal Council of its country or by the General Council.

All groups are recommended to provide remuneration to the secretaries of the statistical committees, in consideration of the general utility of their work for the working class.

3. On 1 August of each year, the Federal Councils or Committees shall transmit the material collected in their respective countries to the General Council. The latter shall in its turn work it up into a general report, which is to be laid before the Congresses held annually in September.

4. Trade unions and international branches which refuse the requested information shall be reported to the General Council for further decision.

5. The resolutions of the Geneva Congress of 1866 mentioned in Article 1 of this section are as follows:

“The statistical investigation of the condition of the working class of all civilised countries, undertaken by the working class itself, is already in itself a great international work. To act with success, one must know the material upon which one wishes to act. Moreover, by the initiative of so great a work, the workers prove their ability to take their own destiny into their own hands.

The Congress therefore proposes that, in every place where a branch of our society exists, the work be begun immediately, and material be collected on the various points of the plan of inquiry set forth.

It invites the workers of Europe and of the United States of America to collaborate in compiling the elements of a statistics of the working class, and to send their reports together with supporting evidence to the General Council. The latter shall work them up into a general report, to which it appends the supporting evidence as an appendix. This report, together with the appendix, shall be laid before the next annual Congress, and, after its approval, be printed at the expense of the Association.

Plan of Inquiry, to be modified and supplemented according to circumstances:

1. Trade, name.

2. Age and sex of the workers.

3. Number of employed workers.

4. Wages: a. Apprentices and journeymen;
b. Time-wages or piece-wages? Wages paid by middlemen. Weekly and yearly average.

5. a. Hours of labour in factories.
b. Hours of labour at small masters’ and in domestic industry, if the trade is carried on in these different ways.
c. Night and day work.

6. Meal times and treatment.

7. Nature of the workshops and of the work, overcrowding, defective ventilation, lack of daylight, gas lighting, cleanliness, etc.

8. Effect of the work on the physical condition.

9. Moral and educational condition, upbringing.

10. Character of the business; whether more or less uniform throughout the year, or tied to particular seasons; whether subject to great fluctuations, whether exposed to foreign competition, whether working mainly for the home or foreign market.

11. Special legislation on the relation between worker and master.

12. Food and housing conditions of the workers.”

Appendix.

The Conference held in London from 17 to 23 September 1871 instructed the General Council to prepare, in English, French and German, a new authentic and revised edition of the General Statutes and Administrative Regulations of the International Working Men’s Association, for the following reasons: —

I. General Statutes.

The Geneva Congress (1866) adopted, with a few additions, the provisional Statutes of the Association published in London in November 1864. It also decided (see: Congrès ouvrier de l’Association Internationale des Travailleurs, tenu à Genève du 3 au 8 Septembre 1866, Geneva 1866, p.27, footnote) that the General Council should publish the official and binding text of both the Statutes and the Administrative Regulations issued by the Congress. The General Council was prevented from carrying out this decision by the confiscation of the minutes of the Geneva Congress, during their passage through France, by the Bonapartist government. When, finally, the minutes reached London, as a result of the intervention of Lord Stanley, then British Foreign Secretary, a French report of the Congress had already appeared. The text of the Statutes and Administrative Regulations which it contained was immediately reprinted in all French-speaking countries. This text was in many respects faulty.

1. The Paris edition of the London provisional Statutes was taken as a basis as an exact translation. However, the Paris Committee from which this translation emanated had not only very considerably altered the preamble to the Statutes and, upon interpellation by the General Council, excused these alterations by the existing political state of France. It had also, through imperfect knowledge of the English language, mistranslated articles of the Statutes.

2. The Geneva Congress was to give the provisional Statutes a definitive character. Its committee appointed for this purpose simply struck out all passages in which provisional measures were mentioned; it overlooked the fact that several of these passages, besides their merely provisional content, contained permanent provisions of the greatest importance. The English edition published after the Lausanne Congress (1867) also omits these passages.

II. Administrative Regulations.

The Administrative Regulations previously published jointly with the Statutes contain only the resolutions of the Geneva Congress (1866). It therefore became necessary to codify the regulations issued by the later Congresses and by the London Conference (1871).

For the present revised edition, the following printed documents have been used:
“Address and Provisional Rules of the International Working Men’s Association,” etc. London. 1864.

„Rules of the International Working Men's Association.“ London 1867.

„Congres ouvrier de l'Association Internationale des Travailleurs, tenu
à Genève du 3 au 8 Septbre. 1866.“ Genève. 1866.

„Proces-verbaux du Congrès de Genève, 1866. Rapport du Conseil
General“. Publié dans le Courrier International, Mars et Avril, Londres
1867.

„Proces-verbaux du Congrès de l'Association Internationale des Travail-
leurs, réuni à Lausanne, du 2 au 8 Septbre. 1867.“ Chaux-de-Fonds. 1867.

„Troisieme Congrès de l'Association Internationale des Travailleurs
(Brüsseler Kongreß) — Compte-rendu officiel.“ Bruxelles. 1868.

„The International Working Men's Association. Resolutions of the
Congress of Geneva, 1866, and the Congress of Brussels, 1868.“ London.
1868.

„Compte-rendu du Ame Congrès International, tenu à Bâle en Septbre.
1869.“ Bruxelles, 1869.

411

Karl Marx

„Report of the Fourth Annual Congress of the International Working
Men's Association, held at Basel, 1869. Published by the General Council.“
London 1869.

„Quatrieme Congrès de l'Association Internationale des Travailleurs,
tenu à Bâle, 1869. Rapport du délégué des Sections de la Fabrique à
Genève.“ Genève 1869.

„Resolutions of the Conference of Delegates of the International Work-
ing Men's Association, assembled at London, 1871.“ London. 1871.|

For the Basel Congress, the German congress report, published in leaflets, and the notes taken during the congress by the General Secretary have also been consulted.

The manner in which these various sources have been used for the present edition is shown by the following compilation.

General Statutes.

Introduction. — After the words: “For these reasons” the words have been restored: “the International Association has been founded.”

The passage: “They consider it the duty of everyone” etc. is omitted, because two equally authentic and mutually irreconcilable texts of it exist. Moreover, its real meaning is contained in the passage immediately preceding it and in the one immediately following it: “no duties without rights” etc.

Art. 3. is restored according to Art. 3 of the provisional statutes.

Art. 4. Part of Art. 3 and the whole of Art. 4 in Rules, etc. London 1867.

Art. 5. Introductory part of Art. 3, Rules, 1867. The words “a President” are omitted in accordance with Administrative Resolution I. of the Basel Congress.

Art. 6. Art. 5, Rules, 1867. The words “Co-operating Associations” (co-operating associations) have been changed to: “national and local groups of the Association”, because various translations erroneously rendered the original expression as “co-operative societies”.

Art. 7. Art. 6, Rules, 1867.

Art. 8. Art. 10, Rules, 1867.

Art. 12, forms Art. 13 of the Administrative Regulations in: Rules, 1867.

Art. 13. Art. 12, Rules, 1867.

412

General Statutes and Administrative Regulations of the IAA

Art. 7, Rules, 1867, is omitted because it was inserted in contradiction with a resolution of the Lausanne Congress. See “Proces-verbaux du Congrès de Lausanne” p. 36.

Administrative Regulations.

I. The General Congress.

Art. 4. Art. 10, Congrès de Genève; Art. 9, Rules, etc., 1867.
(Congrès de Genève, Geneva 1866, p. 26 et seq.); Art. 10, Rules, 1867; the latter is incomplete.

Art. 2. Art. 9, Congrès de Genève; Art. 6, Rules, etc., 1867. 15| Art. 3. Art. 13, Congrès de Genève; Art. 11, Rules, etc., 1867.

Art. 4. Art. 10, Congrès de Genève; Art. 9, Rules, etc., 1867.

Art. 5. Art. 9, Congrès de Genève; Art. 7, Rules, etc., 1867.

Art. 6. Art. 12, Congrès de Genève; Art. 8, Rules, etc. 1867.

Art. 7. Basel Administrative Regulations, VIII.

Art. 8. For this article, the Guide Pratique pour le Congrès de l'Internationale (Compte-rendu du Congrès de Bâle, Brussels 1869) has been completed by the other, above-mentioned sources for the Basel Congress.

Art. 9. First part as for Art. 8. Second part, Lausanne Congress resolution (Procès-verbaux p. 74, 1.)

Art. 10. Art. 1b, Congrès de Genève; Art. 1 b, Rules, etc., 1867.

Art. 11. Guide Pratique, Basel Congress, Art. 3 and 11.

Art. 12. Guide Pratique, etc., Art. 10.

Art. 13. Guide Pratique, etc., Art.7.

Art. 14. Guide Pratique, etc., Art. 4.

II. The General Council.

Art. 1. London Conference, 1871, II. 1.

Art. 2. Congrès de Genève, Art. 1; Rules, etc., 1867, Art. 1.

Art. 3. The first two paragraphs, Art. 2 and Art. 1 A., Congrès de Genève and Rules, etc., 1867. Third paragraph, Art. 3, Congrès de Genève. Last paragraph, Lausanne Congress, Procés-verbaux, p. 31, Art. 2.

Art. 4 to 7. Basel administrative resolutions, IV. to VII.

Art. 8. London Conference, III.

Art. 9. Resolution of the London Conference, sessions of 18 and 22 September.

413

Karl Marx

III. Contributions payable to the General Council.

Art. 1. First paragraph, Lausanne Congress, Procès-verbaux, p. 37, 3; and Art. IX., Basel administrative resolutions. Second paragraph, Art. 4, Congrès de Genève, and Rules, 1867.

Art. 2 to 6. London Conference, IV., 1 to 5.

IV. Federal Councils and Committees.

Art. 1. Art. 6, Congrès de Genève, and Rules, 1867.

Art. 2. Art. 5, ditto.

Art. 3. Brussels Congress, “Compte-rendu Officiel”, p. 50, Appendice, Séances Administratives, Resolution No. 3. 16| Art. 4. Art. VI. Basel administrative resolutions.

V. Local societies, branches and groups.

Art. 1. Art. 14, Congrès de Genève; Art. 12, Rules, etc., 1867.

Art. 2 to 4. London Conference, II, 2 to 4.

Art. 5. Art. I., Basel administrative resolutions.

Art. 6. London Conference, V.

Art. 7. Art. II., Basel administrative resolutions.

Art. 8. Art. III., ditto.

VI. General Statistics of the Working Class.

Art. 1 to 4. London Conference, VI., 1 to 4.

Art. 5. Resolution of the Geneva Congress (London edition of the Geneva and Brussels Congress resolutions, p. 4).

By order and in the name of the London Conference 1871,

THE GENERAL COUNCIL:

R. Applegarth, Ant. Arnaud, M. J. Boon, Fred. Bradnick, G. H. Buttery,
F. Cournet, V. Delahaye, Eugène Dupont, Wm. Hales, G. Harris, Hurliman,

414

General Statutes and Administrative Regulations of the IAA

Jules Johannard, Harriet Law, Fred. Lessner, Lochner, Constant Martin,
Zevy Maurice, Henry Mayo, George Milner, Ch. Murray, Pfänder, Vitale
Regis, G. Ranvier, John Roach, Rühl, Sadler, Cowell Stepney, Alfred Taylor,
W. Townshend, Ed. Vaillant, John Weston.

CORRESPONDING SECRETARIES:

A. Herman, for Belgium. Th. Mottershead, for Denmark. Karl Marx, for
Germany and Russia. Aug. Serraillier, for France. Ch. Rochat, for
Holland. J. P. MacDonnell, for Ireland. Friedrich Engels, for Italy and
Spain. Leo Frankel, for Austria and Hungary. Walery Wroblewski, for
Poland. Hermann Jung, for Switzerland. J. G. Eccarius, for the United
States. Constant Le Moussu, for French sections of the United States.

Ch. Longuet, Chairman.

Hermann Jung, Treasurer.

John Hales, General Secretary.

256, High Holborn, W.C. London, 24 October 1871.

415

Friedrich Engels
Resolution of the General Council
expelling Gustave Durand

from the International Working Men's Association

The General Council having received full evidence that Gustave Durand,
working Jeweller of Paris, ex-delegate of the jewellers to the Federal
Chamber of Paris Working men, ex-chief of Battalion of the National
Guards, ex-chief Cashier at the delegation of Finance under the Commune,
passing as a refugee in London, has served, and is now serving, as a spy for
the French Police upon the Communal Refugees and especially upon the
General Council of the International Working Men's Association, and has
already received 725 francs for his services. The said Gustave Durand is
therefore branded as infamous and expelled from the International Asso-
ciation. This resolution to be published in all the organs of the Inter-
national.

416

Friedrich Engels
Résolution du Conseil général
sur l'expulsion de Gustave Durand
de l'Association Internationale des Travailleurs

Presumed translation from the English

I Association Internationale
des Travailleurs.
Résolution du Conseil Général.
Séance du 7 Octobre 1871.

Le Conseil Général ayant acquis la preuve incontestable que Gustave
Durand, de Paris, membre de l'Internationale, ouvrier bijoutier, ex-délégué
des bijoutiers à la Chambre fédérale des ouvriers de Paris, ex-chef de
bataillon de la garde nationale, ex-caissier en chef à la délégation des
finances sous la Commune, vivant à Londres comme réfugié, a servi et sert
encore la police française en espionnant les réfugiés de la Commune à
Londres et surtout le Conseil Général de l'Internationale et qu'il a déjà reçu
la somme de 725 francs pour ses services —
Pour ces motifs, ledit Gustave Durand est flétri comme infâme et expulsé
de l'Association Internationale des Travailleurs.
Cette Résolution sera publiée dans tous les organes de l'Association.

Londres le 7 Octobre 1871.

Pour extrait conforme...
Secrétaire pour la Hollande. |

417