On Sept. 23, 1864. at the grand international mectingat St. Martin's hall, in London, the provisional regulations of the " international association" were adopted, and these were ratified two years later, in the first congress of the Internationals, held at Geneva. Progress now became rapid in the new organization. A bureau for the receipt of sub scriptions was opened in Paris, and met with general patronage on the part of the work imsmen. Subordinate societies, or "groups," were formed in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, and Belgium. Journals were established, and widely circulated. advo cating the views of the international, which already began to oppose its conclusions to those of the cabinets and courts of Europe. The outbreak of the Franco-German war presented an opportunity which was not neglected. The formation of battalions of the national guard in Paris was aided by the Internationals to the extent of infusing as much of their own element into them as was practicable, with the design of corrupting that body, and employing it in the great social revolution which it was designed to precipi tate. The second congress took place at Lausanne, Sept. 2, 1867; the third at Brussels, Sept. 6, 1868; the fourth at Basle, Sept. 6, 1869, and at this gathering, attended by 80 delegates, a Mr. Cameron, sent by the national labor union of the United States, claimed to represent 800,000 workingmen in the new world. In the following year, 1870, much uneasiness had begun to be felt in Europe in regard to the growing power of the Inter national, and Suits were instituted against it in France. Yet a fifth congress was to have been held in Paris in that year, hut wasprevented by the outbreak of the war. Incident ally, it should be noted that one of the delegates to the congress of Basle was Baknnin, a professed Russian nihilist. Twenty-nine journals advocated the principles of the International in Europe. Seven of these were published in Switzerland and Belgium, one in Italy, six in Spain, and the remainder in Germany and Holland, none being issued on'French territory: one, printed in German, emanated from New York. It is believed
that efforts were made on the part of the French empire to unite with the Internationals as against the bourgeoisie. Certain it is that Mazzini, Garibaldi, Blanqui, and Ledru Rollin distrusted the new organization. But in the end the empire and the International were found opposed to each other, and though the yovermuent decided finally not to attack the International as a secret society, it instituted proceedings against fifteen members of the committee of the Paris bureau, on the charge of having belonged to an unauthorized society, and these were tried early in 1868, but ou being condemned, were simply tined 100 francs each. The tribunal in this case declared the association dissolved, in its bureau in Paris; yet a few months later others of its committeemen were tried, condemned, and this time imprisoned for three months, in addition to being fined.i'he result of these trials was dissimulation on the part of the Interuationals—and the institu tion still lived. In 1869 there came to the surface, in connection with the International, gen. Cluseret, who had been naturalized as an American citizen, and who now under took to found in this country a journal in the interest of the order: this intention he afterwards abandoned, but claimed to have organized relations between the French and American groups. Documents diScovered in the possession of members of the Inter national to show the existence of a plot to promote a social revolution in Paris in thO interest of the ouvriers, and this was, in fact, the inception of the commu ae. The names of certain of these members, who were afterwards tried on account of their mem bership, and escaped with light fines, appeared later among the list of the members of the commune, who, for two months and a half, led the concerted movement of pillage, murder, and incendiarism in the city of Paris. At the present writing there exists no evidence to show that the International has been entirely abandoned.