Labor Congresses
meetings of the delegates representing organized labor. While there have been frequent congresses of labor of a single nation there have been but few international labor congresses. The first one, held at Geneva, Switzerland, in 1866, was very moderate in the tone of its demands, contenting itself with approving of the alliance among workers to better their condition, and recommending technical education and the establishment of mutual credit organizations. The Second International Labor Congress was held at Lausanne the next year and opposed the co -operative societies and advocated the taking of active steps to secure for the workers full political rights. The Third International held at Basel in 1869 is the most famous of all because of the radical nature of its prointernational labor than any previous nouncements. More representative of congress it was certainly more extreme than its predecessors. In addition to declaring in favor of the government ownership of all land and the application of the single tax theory it adopted this revolutionary motion demanding "the destruction of all States, national and territorial, and on their ruins the founding of the International State of Laborers."
The later meetings of the International are not known by their numbers. That held at The Hague in 1872 was featured by the break between Marx and Bakunin, the celebrated exponent of the anarchists.
When the Socialists became more numerous they began to dominate the labor congresses at the expense of the more conservative trade unionists. At one of these congresses, May 1st was declared to be a holiday in honor of workers of all lands. The observance of this day has since been very general in Europe, although in America, where the Socialist movement has not made serious headway, the first Monday in September is observed as a national Labor Day.
In 1912 the International Congress, International Congress , meeting at Basel, condemned the Balkan War and tried to unite the workers of all lands in a demonstration against it. The European War of 1914 came too suddenly to permit of any conof national patriotism certed plan to stop it, moreover the exstop it, moreover the exwhich swept over all nations seemed for cessive wave of national patriotism seemed for cessive wave the time to deny the international character of the labor movement. Attempts were made, however, during the war to hold an International Labor Congress.
The most important was the one proat Stockholm, Sweden, posed to be held at in the summer of 1917. As the Germans were at that time anxious for peace there was little difficulty in securing passports for their delegates. But the Allied Governments looked askance at the proposal, the United States labor delegates refusing to attend if the Gerto attend if the Ger mans were present. Kerensky, the Russian Premier, alone of all the Allies favored the Congress. After the Armistice Was signed a Labor congress was held at Geneva where German as well as delegates from the Allied countries were present. The critical question here was the extent to which the Bolsheviki should be encouraged. Here the Congress was so hopelessly divided that it contented itself with demanding peace with Russia and the abandonment of the blockade.