TO  THE EDITORS
OF PROLETARIO ITALIANO™
Citizens,
In your issue No. 39 you publish an announcement by
Turin workers which contains the following:
“We hereby publicly announce that the decision of the Grand
Council in London to subordinate socialism to politics was communi cated to us by the editors of Proletario immediately after it was made
and that the decision was not of an official nature since it was withdrawn by the Grand Council in view of the fact that many European
associations would have rejected it outright, as would we.”
This assertion obliges the General Council to declare:
1) that it never took any decision to subordinate socialism to politics,
2) that it therefore could not have withdrawn such a
decision,
3) that no European or American association could
reject such a decision, or has indeed rejected any other
decision of the General Council.
The position of the General Council as regards the
political action of the proletariat is sufficiently well
defined.
It is defined:
1) By the General Rules, in which the fourth paragraph
of the preamble runs: “That the economical emancipation

502 APPENDIX
of the working classes is the great end to which
every political movement ought to be subordinate as
a means.”*
* See p. 420 of the present volume.—Ed.
2) By the text of the Inaugural Address of the Association (1864), this official and essential commentary on the
Rules, which says:
“The lords of land and the lords of capital will always
use their political privileges for the defence and perpetuation of their economical monopolies. So far from promoting, they will continue to lay every possible impediment
in the way of the emancipation of labour.... To conquer
political power has therefore become the great duty of the
working classes.”301
3) By the resolution of the Congress of Lausanne (1867)
to the effect that: “The social emancipation of the workmen
is inseparable from their political emancipation.”302
4) By Resolution IX  of the London Conference (September 1871) which, in agreement with the above, reminds
the members of the International that in the struggle of
the working classes its economical movement and its
political action are indissolubly united.303
The Council has always followed the line of conduct
thus prescribed and will do so in future. It therefore
declares the above communication made by persons unknown to the editors of Proletario to be false and slanderous.
By order and in the name of the General Council
Secretary for Italy,
F. E.
P. S. I have just received La Revolution Sociale^ from
Geneva which says that a small group in the Jura has

APPENDIX 503
rejected the decisions of the London Conference.*  The
General Council has received no official communication
as yet. As soon as it does, it will take the necessary
measures.
* See p. 43 of the present volume.—Ed.
November 29, 1871