London, 11 September 1892 

Dear August, 

So you intend to keep the Witch with you for one more day. No 
doubt in order to instruct her how best to manage the General in re- 
gard to his drinking and other sins; meanwhile you carry on urging 
me to keep an eye on her—but you mustn’t imagine that I don’t 
see through you. You want to stir up trouble between us, though 
what your perfidious motives may be, heaven knows, but you wait, 
my lad, it isn’t as simple as all that. By way of revenge I shall 
bombard you with more work than you want and shall start 
straight away. 

The Trapes Congress in Glasgow °*° has declared war on us Conti- 
nentals. Malice on the part of the leaders of the old unions and, on 
the part of the new,°?° stupidity combined with a want of confidence 
either in themselves or each other — hence, too, of organisation as 
a party at the Congress where for decades the old unions have consti- 
tuted a tightly knit group. When the chaps realise what they have 
done, most of them will regret it. 

Well, the Zurich Committee had sent to the Parliamentary Commit- 
tee °°? a letter addressed to the Congress containing an invitation to 
Zurich in 1893 °*!; this had been composed by Tussy.* The Parlia- 
mentary Committee attempted to suppress the letter. Will Thorne 
vainly pressed for news of it and demanded that it be read out, but 
met with repeated refusals on the grounds that the Congress must 
leave it to the Parliamentary Committee to decide which documents 
it should produce!! In the end Matkin (Liverpool) moved that the 
Traves Union Congress should convene an international congress for 
1 May 1893 to adopt resolutions and pave the way for an interna- 
tional legal eight hour day.— Parnell, who had been in Paris,” was 
against it. They should, he said, send delegates to the Zurich Congress 
and settle the matter there. A big debate ensued in the course of 

* See this volume, pp. 495 and 496-97.-" at the 1889 International Socialist Congress 

which the ‘old’ unionists kept asking what point there was in going to 
Zurich, whether it was desirable to identify oneself with the continen- 
tal socialists’ wi_p schemes, etc.— There was a further demand that 
the Zurich letter be read out and at last it was resolved that this 
should be done. And so, to save appearances, the Zurich letter was fi- 
nally read out, whereupon a vote was taken and Matkin’s resolution 
regarding the congress (which, however, is to be held :mmepiarecr in- 
stead of on 1 May 1893) was adopted by 189 to 97. Thus, with hardly 
a second thought, the Zurich invitation was not so much rejected as 
consigned to the waste paper basket. In return, however, the ‘ill- 
organised’ continental proletariat was most graciously permitted to 
attend a congress in England, there to be lectured, indoctrinated and 
organised by the true leaders of the 8 hours movement — by those 
who only the day before had been engaging them in mortal combat. 
You will see from the detailed report in a Scottish paper, which 
I shall send you as soon as I get it, that the old unionists have insulted 
us for all they were worth while the young ones have acted like 
schoolboys. 

Meanwhile I enclose the only report I have to hand. 

However one must not take it too hard. The new unions are so de- 
lighted with the old unions’ conversion to the legal 8 hours that they 
have allowed themselves to be caught napping over this issue. Most of 
them are undoubtedly regretting it already, as will they all as soon as 
they realise what they have done. In my view it is up to the Continen- 
tals to bring this home to them, and provided the former act together, 
the affair will end badly for the ‘old’ unions. 

1. France and Germany must act together. All the rest will then 
follow suit. Accordingly I am today proposing to the French through, 
Laura that they should get in touch with you people in order that the 
aforesaid resolution should be followed by resolution couched, if 
possible in identical terms,* at your congresses in Marseilles *°> and 
Berlin.°°* So far as I can judge at this moment (I haven’t yet seen 
Aveling who was present at Glasgow, nor have I consulted anyone 
else), your best plan would be to point out in firm but calm and not 
unfriendly language that you utterly reject the newly-fledged eight 
hours congress, while, at the same time, renewing your invitation to 
the individual Trapes Unions to send delegates to the Zurich Congress. 

* See this volume, p. 521. 

(The Zurich Committee would also have to do the same, that is to say 
in a circular — Tussy will be writing to them about it but a push from 
you people would also be a help.) 

2. If, however, one wants to go further and heap coals of fire on the 
heads of infants who don’t know what they are about, then it would 
be up to the French and Germans to send one man each to explain the 
position and register a protest against the Glasgow resolution. They 
will have to be delegated by the Central Trades Union Committee 
and be, or have been, bona fide working men, otherwise they won't be 
admitted. 

If Marseilles and Berlin are at one, Austria, Spain and Italy will 
follow. Switzerland is a certainty, for she was the immediate recipient 
of the affront; Belgium will probably follow and likewise the Scandi- 
navians. In which case Mr Nieuwenhuis, the Possibilists? and the 
Blanquists are welcome to go and visit the Trapes Unions, whereupon 
they really will find themselves outside the great European move- 
ment. 

That, provisionally, is my opinion just now. As soon as J hear any- 
thing further I shall write again. Meanwhile you people might think 
the matter over. At all events the arrogance of the ‘old’ unions and 
the spinelessness of the new afford you a splendid opportunity to ex- 
plain your point of view to the English and to show them that the 
class-conscious continental proletariat has no intention of placing it- 
self under the leadership of people who regard the wage system as an 
eternal and immutable universal institution. 

It is a real blessing that the blinkered, biassed, exclusively trades 
union movement should now have exposed its reactionary nature in 
so merciless a light. 

One more vignette: as a result of a formal resolution at the last con- 
ference of the Socta, Democratic Feperation, Mr Hyndman was 
requested (unanimously so it is said) to keep himself more in the 
background and to discontinue his activities at the head of the Soca. 
Democratic FEDERATION. 

The main concern of us all is that Marseilles and Berlin should act 
resolutely and in concert. All else is of secondary importance. If both 
of them pass identical resolutions, these will be adopted throughout 
Europe and that’s the kind of thing that finds its way into all the 
papers over here. Your trades union congresses ought also to 
protest. 

The Scottish paper with report is going off to you by this post. 
Warm regards to Mrs Julie,* the Witch, you yourself and all my 
friends. 

Yours 
F.E.