The labor movement in France; a study in revolutionary syndicalism

Author's Preface

The term syndicalism sounds strange to an English reader. Its equivalent in English would be Unionism. A syndicat is a union of workingmen, on a trade or on an industrial basis, for the defense of economic interests.

Revolutionary Syndicalism, however, has a broader connotation than the etymology of the term would suggest. A critical analysis of existing institutions, a socialist ideal, and a peculiar conception of revolutionary methods to be used for the realization of the ideal — are all contained in it. Revolutionary Syndicalism appears, therefore, as a phase of the general movement towards a reorganization of society on socialist principles. 1

Revolutionary Syndicalism cannot be treated, however, exclusively as a phase of the evolution of Socialism. As the term suggests, it is also a development of the French Labor Movement. The organization which represents Revolutionary Syndicalism in France is the General Confederation, of Labor {La Confederation Generate du Travail, generally referred to as the C. G. T.) — the central organization of the labor unions or syndicats in France. The history of Revolutionary Syndicalism coincides almost entirely with the history of the General Confederation, and it may be said that its future is entirely bound up with the destinies of this organization.

In fact, Revolutionary Syndicalism is an attempt to fuse revolutionary socialism and trade unionism into one coherent movement. Peculiar conditions of French social

1 The term "socialist" is here used in a wide sense to include all varieties, even anarchism.

235] 5

6 AUTHOR'S PREFACE [236

history have thrown the socialists and anarchists into the syndicats and have secured their leadership there. In this respect, Revolutionary Syndicalism is a unique and interesting chapter in the history of both Socialism and Trades unionism and of their mutual relations.

Revolutionary Syndicalism has attracted much attention outside of France. Its more or less rapid development, the turmoil into which it has thrown France several times, the extreme ideas which it expresses, the violent methods it advocates, and its attempts of proselytism outside of France have awakened an interest in it. A number of studies on the movement have appeared in German, Italian, Russian and other European periodicals and books. In English, however, the subject has not received the consideration it would seem to deserve from the theoretical as well as from the practical point of view.

Revolutionary Syndicalism is an aggressive movement. Its aim is to do away with existing institutions and to reconstruct society along new lines. It must, therefore, necessarily call forth a definite attitude on the part of those who become acquainted with it. Those who speak about it are either its friends or its enemies, and even those who want to be impartial towards it are generally unable to resist the flood of sentiment which such a movement sets loose in them.

Impartiality, however, has been the main effort of the writer of this essay. It has appeared to him more important to describe the facts as they are and to understand the conditions back of the facts, than to pass sentence whether of approval or of condemnation. He has made the effort, therefore, to suppress his personality entirely in all that part of his work which is purely descriptive. The method adopted has been to describe ideas and facts sympathetically — whether syndicalist or anti-syndicalist,

AUTHOR'S PREFACE whether promoting or hindering the development of Revolutionary Syndicalism.

The idea that has guided the writer is as follows: Let us imagine that social phenomena could be registered automatically. All social facts would then be recorded with all the sympathies and antipathies with which they are mixed in real life, because the latter are part of the facts. When social descriptions go wrong it is not because they are tinged with feeling, but because they are colored by those feelings which they arouse in the writer and not by those which accompany them in reality. The main task of the writer, therefore, is to try to enter into the feelings which go along with the facts which he is describing.

This means that the writer must alternately feel and think as a different person. However difficult this may be, it is still possible by an effort of imagination prompted by a desire to get at the truth.

This method seems more correct than an attempt to remain entirely indifferent and not to be swayed by any feeling. Indifference does not secure impartiality; it results mostly in colorlessness. For instance, were the writer to remain indifferent or critical while describing the syndicalist ideas, the latter could not be outlined with all the force and color with which they appear in the exposition of their representatives. This would not produce an impartial description, therefore, but a weak and consequently untrue one. On the contrary, by trying to feel and to think as a revolutionary syndicalist, while describing the syndicalist ideas, it is possible to come nearer to reality. The same method is used in the description of anti-syndicalist ideas and efforts.

The result seems to the writer to be the creation of the necessary illusion and the reproduction of the atmosphere in which the movement developed. A critical and personal

8 AUTHOR'S PREFACE [238

attitude has been taken only when the writer wished to express his own views. Whether the writer has been more successful than others in this attempt, is for the reader to decide.

From the point of view taken in this essay, Revolutionary Syndicalism has to be described both as a theory and as a practice. The effort is made throughout, however, to consider the theory in close relation to the practice.

The first chapter is introductory and serves merely to give the necessary historical perspective. This explains its brevity.

Revolutionary Syndicalism is undoubtedly a peculiar product of French life and history. Still many of its ideas have a general character and may be of interest to men and women of other countries. After all, the problems that confront the whole civilized world to-day are the same, and the conditions in which their solution has to be tried are everywhere alike in many respects. It has been the writer's sincere hope throughout this work that the history of syndicalism may stimulate the readers of this essay to reflection and criticism that may be of help to them in their efforts to advance the cause of social progress in their own country.

The author wishes to make grateful acknowledgments to Professor Vladimir G. Simkhovitch, Professor Henry Rogers Seager and other professors of Columbia University who have in one way or another aided him in the prosecution of his work; but especially is he indebted to Professor Franklin H. Giddings for invaluable criticisms and suggestions which have guided him throughout his work, and to Professor Edwin R. A. Seligman for encouragement and advice, and help in making it possible for the work to appear in its present form.

Louis Levine.

November, 191 1.

Contents

Author's Preface 5

Introduction, by Professor Franklin H. Giddings 13

CHAPTER I The Labor Movement in France to the Commune (1 789-1 871)

Legislation of French Revolution on trade associations ; law Le Chapelier, 1791 — Laws of Napoleon — Prohibition of strikes — Violation of these laws — Secret labor organizations in France : compagnonnages, societies of resistance — Revolution of 1848 and the coSperative movement — Influence of Louis Blanc — Reaction during the fifties — Revival of labor movement in 1862— Effort of French workingmen to break legal barriers— New law on strikes in 1864 — Toleration of labor unions by Government of Napoleon III — Syndicats and cooperation — Failure of cooperative central bank in 1868— Communistic and Revolutionary tendencies in "The International" — Success of "The International" in 1869 — Franco- Prussian War and its influence on the French labor movement 15

CHAPTER II Origin of the General Confederation of Labor (1871-1895)

The influence of the Commune on the syndicats — Barberet and his r6le in the s>ndical movement (1872-79) — The first Labor Congress in France (1876) — Acceptance of the Socialist program by the syndicats at the congress of Marseilles (1879) — The Socialist groups in France: Guesdists, Broussists, Allemanists, Blanquists, Independents, Anarchists — Their points of agreement and of difference — Influence of socialist divisions on development of labor organizations — Attempts of syndicats to form a central organization — The National Federation of Sydicats; its failure — The Bourse du Travail — The Federation of Bourses du Travail — The idea of the general strike — Its conception — Criticism by Guesdists — Split in National Federation of Synicats — Formation of General Confederation of Labor by advocates of general strike and opponents of Guesdists .... 41 2393 9

IO CONTENTS [240

PACS

CHAPTER III The Federation of Bourses du Travail

Importance of Bourses du Travail ; their rapid growth — Municipal and governmental subventions — Program of Bourses du Travail — Federation of Bourses du Travail organized in 1892 — Its original purpose — Femand Pelloutier Secretary of Federation — His role and influence — Conception of syndicat as the cell of future society — Growth of Federation of Bourses; its relations with the General Confederation of Labor 69

CHAPTER IV The General Confederation of Labor from 1895- 1902

Reasons for dividing history of General Confederation into two periods — Weakness of Confederation before 190 2 —Congress of Tours in 1896 — Discussion of the idea of the general strike — Congress of Toulouse in 1897 — Discussion of sabotage and boycott and of " Direct Action " — Congress of Rennes in 1898 — Congresses of Paris in 1900 and of Lyons in 1901 — Revolutionary character of Congress of Lyons : New conception of general Strike; revolutionary character of syndicat; antimilitaristic ideas ; opposition to labor legislation — Causes of revolutionary ideas: changes in the program and methods of socialist parties ; Dreyfus affair ; entrance of socialist Millerand into " bourgeois " government — Congress of Montpellier in 1902 and the fusion of the Federation of Bourses du Travail with the General Confederation of Labor 87

CHAPTER V The Doctrine of Revolutionary Syndicalism

Class struggle, its meaning and importance — Syndicat the proper organization for carrying on class struggle — Strength of syndicat by uniting workingmen without distinction of race, religion, political or philosophical ideas — Industrial unionism versus Craft unionism — Syndicats and "Direct Action " — Methods of " Direct Action :" strike, boycott, sabotage, label — The direct struggle against the State; exclusion of parliamentary methods — Criticism of democracy — Class struggle versus class solidarity — Anti-patriotism — Anti militarism — General strike the means of emancipating workingmen — The ideal society of the syndicalists: economic federalism — The role of the " conscious minority " — Syndicats the true leaders of the working class 1

2 4 l] CONTENTS II

PAGE

CHAPTER VI The Theorists of Revolutionary Syndicalism

Two groups of writers on syndicalism, (a) workingmen (6) intellectuals — Their points of disagreement — Representative of intellectuals ; Georges Sorel — His works — His conception of syndicalism as neo-Marxism — Fundamental idea of Marx ; no Utopias — Task of socialists to teach workingmen — The importance of the idea of the general strike — The general strike a " social myth " — What is a " social myth ? " — Importance of "social myths" in revolutionary movements — The general strike as a means of producing a complete rupture between working class and bourgeoisie — Sorel's theory of progress ; only technical progress continuous ; succession of cultures not continuous — Necessity of combating democracy — Democracy — the regime of professional politicians who rule the people — Class struggle and violence ; meaning of violence — General strike a great moral force — Syndicalist ideas founded on pessimistic basis — Pessimism as cause of great historical achievements — Ideas of Bergson — Criticism of Sorel ; neo-Marxism not true to spirit of Marx — Lagardelle and his writings — Influence of Sorel — Criticism of Prof. Sombart's views — Syndicalism a development independent of Sorel — Relation of syndicalism to other social theories 135

CHAPTER VII The General Confederation of Labor Since 1902

Constitution of General Confederation of Labor adopted in 1902 — Activity of General Confederation — Movement to suppress employment bureaus — Congress of Bourges in 1904 — Triumph of revolutionary syndicalism — Movement for eight hour day from 1904 to 1906 — Agitation in France — Fear of "social revolution" — Government arrests leaders — Results of strike movement — Congress of Amiens in 1906 — Struggle between revolutionaries and reformists — Adoption of resolution " the charter of syndicalism " — Revolutionary activity of Confederation after Congress of Amiens — Demonstration of Villeneuve St. George in 1908 — Collision with troops; killed and wounded; arrest of syndicalist leaders — Congress of Marseilles in 1908 — Congress of Toulouse in 1910 — Growth of General Confederation of Labor — The demonstrations of the General Confederation against war — Relations of General Confederation with International Secretariat of Labor 155

12 CONTENTS [242

PAGK

CHAPTER VIII Character and Conditions of Revolutionary Syndicalism

Revolutionary syndicalism as a result of a coalition in the Confederation — The parties to this bloc : anarchists, revolutionary socialists, syndicalists — Formation and strength of the bloc — The socialist ideal of a free workshop — Historical traditions and the revolutionary spirit in French workingmen — Causes of the distrust of " politicians " and of parliamentary methods — The antagonism between workingman and intellectual — Revolutionary syndicalists not a minority in General Confederation — Conditions of syndicalism : poverty of French syndicats; psychology of French workingmen — Sydicats loosely held together — Weakness as cause of violent methods — French love of theory and of formulas — Similar actions of revolutionists and reformists in Confederation according to circumstances — Conditions necessary for realization of program of revolutionary syndicalism — Outlook for the future 1S4

Introduction

The democratic social movement has overleaped its platform and escaped out of the hands of its instigators. It is larger than any school of ideas and will not be bound by any program. It can be analyzed in part, and in general terms described, but it can no longer be defined.

Socialism as one phase of this unmanaged and unmanageable tide, has itself been profoundly affected by the magnitude, the complexity, and the waywardness of the mass motion. It now has its " Right " and its " Left." There is a conservative, and there is a radical socialism. Each proclaims the class struggle, and both demand the collective ownership of the chief means of production. But conservative socialism lays stress upon collective ownership, and would move toward it by peaceful, evolutionary steps. It relies on the ballot, believes in legislation, in law, and in government ; while radical socialism proclaims " the revolution, " plans for the general strike, and preaches the expediency of sabotage and violence.

At first sight almost identical with radical socialism is Syndicalism, which, however, proves upon examination to be both more and less than any socialistic program. In its most characteristic expression, syndicalism denies the state and would substitute for it a purely voluntary collectivism. So far it is at one with anarchism, and there are those who conceive of syndicalism as an anarchistic movement in opposition to socialism. The trade union organization of labor the world over is looked upon by the syndicalist as the natural basis and agency of his enterprise, quite as existing political organizations are accepted by the conser- 243] 13

I 4 INTRODUCTION [244

vative or parliamentary socialist as the best preliminary norms from which to evolve a new social order.

In this division of the forces of social democracy into right and left groups over the question of organization and control, we have a significant demonstration of the inadequacy of that Marxian analysis which resolves all social conflict into the antagonism of economic classes. More profound than that antagonism, and in the order of time more ancient, is the unending warfare between those who believe in law and government for all, and those who believe in law and government for none. The more or less paradoxical character of the socialistic movement at the present moment is attributable to the circumstance that, for the time being, these antagonistic forces of socialism and anarchism are confronting a common enemy — the individualist, who believes in law and government for everybody but himself.

To describe, explain and estimate a phenomenon so complex as modern revolutionary syndicalism is a task from which the economist and the historian alike might well shrink. To understand it and to enable readers to understand it is an achievement. I think that I am not speaking in terms of exaggeration in saying that Dr. Levine has been more successful in this arduous undertaking than any predecessor. His pages tell us in a clear and dispassionate way what revolutionary syndicalism is, how it began, and how it has grown, what its informing ideas and purposes are, and by what methods it is forcing itself upon the serious attention of the civilized world. I think that it is a book which no student of affairs can afford to overlook, or to read in any other spirit than that of a sincere desire to know what account of the most profound social disturbance of our time is offered by a competent reporter of the facts.

Columbia University. FRANKLIN H. GlDDINGS.

CHAPTER I The Labor Movement in France to the Commune (1789-1871)

The economic legislation of the French Revolution was guided by individualistic ideas. These ideas expressed the interests of the rising middle class who felt a necessity of removing the obstacles in the way of economic initiative and of personal effort. These interests and ideas dictated the law of March 2-17, 1791, which abolished the guilds and inaugurated the era of competition in France (Liberie du Travail). The law declared that henceforth everybody was " free to do such business, exercise such profession, art, or trade, as he may choose." x

The abolition of the guilds cleared the way for the technical changes that had just begun and the development of which was yet in the future. These changes are well known and need not detain us. They may be summarized as the application of science to industry and especially the introduction of machinery. The process went on in France irregularly, affecting different industries and different localities in various degrees. The first machine (machine a vapeur) was introduced in France about 181 5; in 1830 there were about 600 in operation. Some idea of the later changes may be gained from the following table giving the number of machines in France from 1839 to 1907:

1 Les Associations Professionelles Ouvrieres, Office du Travail (Paris, 1899), vol. i, p. 7.

2 45] 15 l6 THE LABOR MOVEMENT IN FRANCE [246

Year No. of Machines Total Horsepower

1851 5,672 71,000

1861 15,805 191,000

1871 26,146 316,000

1881 44,010 576,000

1891 55,967 916,000

1901 75,866 1,907,000

The introduction of machinery meant both the absorption of a larger part of the population in industry and the concentration of industry in a smaller number of establishments. This necessarily led to an absolute and relative increase in the numbers of the working population of France.

This class of the population was regulated in its economic action for nearly a century by another law passed June 14-17, 1 79 1, and known by the name of its author as the law Le Chapelier. The law Le Chapelier was dictated by the same general interests and ideas as was the law on the guilds, but it was made necessary by special circumstances.

The abolition of the guilds had as one of its effects an agitation among the journeymen for higher wages and for better conditions of employment. During the summer of 1 79 1, Paris was the scene of large meetings of journeymen, where matters of work and wages were discussed. The movement spread from trade to trade, but the struggle was particularly acute in the building trades. Profiting by the law of August 21, 1790, which gave all citizens the " right to assemble peacefully and to form among themselves free associations subject only to the laws which all citizens must obey," 2 the carpenters formed L'Union fra~

1 Annuaire Statistique.

2 Les Associations Professionelles, vol. i, p. 8.

247] THE LAB0R MOVEMENT TO THE COMMUNE iy

ternelle des ouvriers en Vart de la charpente, an association ostensibly for benevolent purposes only, but which in reality helped the carpenters in their struggle with their masters. The masters repeatedly petitioned the municipality of Paris to put an end to the " disorders," and to the " tyranny " of the journeymen. The masters complained that a general coalition of 80,000 workingmen had been formed in the capital and that the agitation was spreading to the provincial towns. 1 The municipal authorities tried to meet the situation, but their " notices " and " decrees " had no effect. They then appealed to the Constituent Assembly for a general law on associations and combinations. The result was the law Le Chapelier.

The report by which the bill was introduced brings out very clearly the individualistic ideas by which the legislators of the Revolution were guided. " Citizens of certain trades," reads this report, " must not be permitted to assemble for their pretended common interests. There is no longer any corporation (guild) in the State; there is but the particular interest of each^ individual and the general interest. . . ." And further: " It is necessary to abide by the principle that only by free contracts, between individual and individual, may the workday for each workingman be fixed; it is then for the workingman to maintain the agreement which he had made with his employer." 2

The law identified the new combinations with the ancient guilds. Its first clause declares that " whereas the abolition of all kinds of corporations of citizens of the same estate (etat) and of the same trade is one of the fundamental bases of the French Constitution, it is prohibited to re-

1 H. Lagardelle, L'Evolution des Syndicats Ouvriers en France (Paris, 1901), p. 13. 2 Les Associations Professionelles, vol. i, pp. 11-12.

establish them de facto under any pretext or form whatsoever ". The second clause formulates the prohibition to form trade organizations in terms which leave nothing to be desired in clearness and precision. It reads : " The citizens of the same estate or trade, entrepreneurs, those who run a shop, workingmen in any trade whatsoever, shall not, when assembled together, nominate presidents, nor secretaries, nor syndics, shall not keep any records, shall not deliberate nor pass resolutions nor form any regulations with reference to their pretended common interests." The fourth clause declares all acts contrary to this law unconstitutional, subject to the jurisdiction of the police tribunals, punishable by a fine of 500 livres and by a temporary suspension of active rights of citizenship. The sixth and seventh clauses determine higher penalties in cases of menace and of violence. The eighth clause prohibits all "gatherings composed of artisans, of workingmen, of journeymen or of laborers, or instigated by them and directed against the free exercise of industry and work to which all sorts of persons have a right under all sorts of conditions agreed upon by private contract (de gre a gre) ". " Such gatherings are declared riotous, are to be dispersed by force, and are to be punished with all the severity which the law permits." :

After the law was passed by the Assembly, the author of the law, Le Chapelier, added :

I have heard some say that it would be necessary to make an exception in favor of the Chambers of Commerce in cities. Certainty you understand well that none of us intends to prevent the merchants from discussing in common their interests. I therefore propose to insert into the proceedings the following clause : " The National Assembly, considering

1 Lcs Associations Professionclles, vol. i, pp. 13-14.

249] THE LAB0R MOVEMENT TO THE COMMUNE IO>

that the law which it has just passed does not concern the Chambers of Commerce, passes to the order of the day."

The proposition was adopted. : ' This last vote," remarks the historian of the Office dn Travail, " demonstrates sufficiently that the law was especially directed against the meetings, associations and coalitions of workingmen." x

The determination to prevent collective action on the part of the workingmen also guided the legislative activity of Napoleon. In 1803, during the Consulate, a law was passed against coalitions; the same law contained a provision whereby all workingmen were to have a special certificate (livrei) 2 which subjected them to a strict surveillance of the police. The law of 1803 against coalitions was replaced in 18 10 by the clauses 414-416 of the Penal Code which prohibited and punished all kinds of coalitions. These articles which made strikes and all collective action a crime, and which show clearly the discrimination against workingmen, are as follows :

Art. 414. Any coalition among those who employ workingmen, tending to force down wages unjustly and abusively., followed by an attempt or a commencement of execution, shall be punished by imprisonment from six days to one month and. by a fine of 200 to 3,000 francs.

Art. 415. Any coalition on the part of workingmen to cease work at the same time, to forbid work in a shop, to prevent the coming there or leaving it before or after certain hours and, in general, to suspend, hinder or make dear labor, if there has been an attempt or a beginning of execution, shall be punished by imprisonment of one month to three months maximum; the leaders and promoters shall be punished by imprisonment of two to five years, and

1 Les Associations Professionelles, vol. i, p. 14.

2 The obligation of the livret was abolished in 1890. G. Weill, His~ toire du Movement Social en France (Paris, 1904), p. 332.

Art. 416. There shall also be subject to penalty indicated in the preceding article and according to the same distinctions, those workingmen who shall have declared fines, prohibitions, interdictions and any other proscriptions under the name of condemnations and under any qualification whatsoever against the directors of the shops and employers, or against each other.

In the case of this article as well as in that of the preceding, the leaders and promoters of the crime, after the expiration of their fine, may be made subject to the surveillance of the police for two years at least and five years at most. 1

The prohibition against combination and organization was aggravated for the workingmen by articles 291-294 of the Penal Code which forbade any kind of associations of more than twenty persons. These articles were made more stringent by the Law of 1834 which prohibited associations even of twenty persons, if they were branches of a larger association. 2

The workingmen, however, soon came to feel that the Liber te dii Travail as interpreted by the laws of the country put them at a disadvantage in the struggle for existence. Individually each one of them was too weak to obtain the best bargain from his employer. This was notoriously so in the industries in which machinery was making headway, but the relations between employer and workingmen were aggravated by competition even in those industries where the old conditions of trade did not change perceptibly for some time. Competition forced the employer to become a " calculator above everything else " and " to consider the workingman only from the point of view of the real value which his hands have on the market without heed to his human needs." 3 The workingman, on the other

1 Les Associations Profcssionelles, vol. i, pp. 18-19.

3 M. Du Cellier, Histoire des Classes Laborieuses en France (Paris, i860), p. 362.

251] THE LABOR MOVEMENT TO THE COMMUNE 2 1

hand, to remedy his individual helplessness was driven to disregard the law and to enter into combinations with his fellow-workers for concerted action.

The figures published by the Department of Justice give the number of those prosecuted for violating the law on strikes — the number of accused, of acquitted and of condemned. These figures are incomplete. They give, however, some idea of the frequency and persistence with which the workingmen had recourse to strikes in spite of the law.

The figures have been published since 1825. The table on the next page gives the yearly figures from that date to 1864, when a new law on strikes was passed.

There is other information to show that the strikes often assumed the character of a general movement, particularly under the influence of political disturbances. During the years that followed the Revolution of July (1830) the workingmen of France were at times in a state of agitation throughout the entire country, formulating everywhere particular demands, such as the regulation of industrial matters, collective contracts and the like. 1

In many cases, the strikes were spontaneous outbursts of discontent among unorganized workingmen. Frequently, however, the strikes were either consciously called out or directed by organizations which existed by avoiding the law in various ways.

These organizations were of three different types : the compagnonnages, the friendly societies (matualites) and the " societies of resistance ".

The compagnonnages originated under the guild-system and can be traced back as far as the fifteenth century. Their development was probably connected with the

1 Octave Festy, Le movement ouvrier au debut de la monarchie de Juillet, passim.

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253] THE LAB0R MOVEMENT TO THE COMMUNE 23

custom of traveling which became prevalent among the journeymen of France about that time. 1 A journeyman (called compagnon in French) would usually spend some time in visiting the principal cities of France (make his tour de France) to perfect himself in his trade. A traveling compagnon would be in need of assistance in many cases and the compagnonnages owed their development to the necessity of meeting this want.